National Media Council layoffs of Maspero employees

CAIRO – 3 May 2017: Maspero will not be privatized, nor its employees will be fired, said Head of National Media Council, Hussein Zein, Tuesday.

However, Zein criticized the exaggerated number of employees inside the 27-floor building.

He also stressed, during a meeting held by the Parliament’s Media and Culture Committee, that the council will not allow selling or privatizing Maspero.

The hearing session addressed the commission’s vision on developing Maspero, a state-owned broadcasting unit, where Zein affirmed that he will manage the resources of the reconstruction process, away from layoffs or privatization.

Maspero has been a pioneer in television and radio broadcasting in the Middle East and Africa since 1950s, but it lost it to other Arab and western media, due to lack of planning and mass hiring of employees since 1980s.

The National Media Council was formed following a presidential decree in April 2011. The aim of the council was to manage media institutions owned by the state and monitor the quality of media produced to citizens.