CAIRO, October 21, 2008 (MENASSAT) – Despite the late hour, Radio Horryatna's studio in downtown Cairo is packed with young people preparing the nighttime broadcast.

Horryatna, which means "Our freedom" in Arabic, was launched in March 2007 to provide an outlet for Egypt's youth, an audience largely unserved by the country's existing FM stations.

It is part of a new generation of Egyptian radio stations that broadcast not over the radio waves but over the Internet, using servers abroad to steer clear of government censorship.

"We started out with only ten people; today we have around 45 employees, including part-timers, freelancers, and volunteers," says Ahmed Samih, who runs Radio Horryatna.

"The goal of this station is to give the microphone to the young people of Egypt. We discuss all kinds of topics on air, ranging from women's and society issues to music and sports."

Every Wednesday night, Samih brings a psychiatrist into the studio to answer questions from callers asking advice on issues relating to mental health.

"Frustration. That's what I feel many of the callers are dealing with," says Samih.

On the morning show Sabahak Horreya (Your Morning Is Freedom), young people are invited to the studio to discuss topics they themselves believe are important.

Later in the program, Horryatna's relationship expert comes on the air to give advice to young men and women experiencing difficulties in their relationships.

'A crazy idea'

Part of the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies, of which Samih is the director, Horryatna broadcasts only over the Internet. It uses a foreign server, and it is kept running mainly through international funding.

"We're using an UK-based server. I am not stupid," Samih says.


Horryatna is one of a new generation of Egyptian radio stations choosing the Internet over FM. © Horryatna


Horryatna currently has around 3,000 visitors per day, according to Samih. On top of the list is Egypt, followed by the US in second place.

The choice of the Internet rather than FM broadcasting was based on necessity, not hipness.

"Of course, I would like to broadcast over FM so that we could reach out to Egyptian society at large," Samih says. "But in order to do that I would need to be a very close friend of [Pressident Hosni] Mubarak, and I would need something like LE 10 million ($1.8 million) in cash. That's LE 5 million for the license alone and LE 5 million to pay under the table."

Perhaps thanks to the Internet format, Horryatna has not run into trouble with the authorities yet. But Samih suspects trouble might be just around the corner.

"I am expecting problems some day. Perhaps soon. But I am proud of this project. It started out as a crazy idea in 2007 and look where we are today."

'Audio blogging'

Another newcomer using the Internet for radio broadcasting is Teet Radio, which advertises itself with the slogan, "The voice of the Egyptian diaspora in Egypt."

Teet Radio was set up in December 2007 by young journalists from the independent Egyptian press who wanted an outlet where media workers could express their private views on the issues they report on.

"As a reporter, I can't say everything I want in my articles," says Ahmed Harbia, a reporter with the independent Egyptian daily Al-Badeel who moonlights with Teet.

"Teet Radio lets journalists express their private thoughts and opinions about their work. Readers are not provided with the full picture in [newspaper] articles," Harbia told MENASSAT.

Just like many journalists use blogs to express their private opinions on matters, Harbia and his co-workers use the microphone to state their view.

"Teet Radio is to me like audio blogging. It's like an online "rababa," a storyteller from the street," says Harbia.

Pan-Arabic

Like Horryatna, Teet Radio too uses a US-based server for its broadcast, which Harbia says they are paying for themselves.

Visits to the site are booming, Harbia says, especially since they switched from precorded shows – podcasts, if oy will – to live streaming last week.

"Since we launched our live stream one week ago, we have received over 50,000 visits in four days time. Most of them are Egyptian but we also get many listeners from Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and Kuwait."

When asked about interference from the Egyptian authorities in the initiative, Harbia said that two of his co- workers were temporarily arrested in Cairo last year on unclear grounds.

"They were working with us. I see no other reason for their arrest,” he said. 

Something that in the future may cause headaches to Harbia and others in Egyptian independent radio is the government proposed new Internet law, which was leaked to Egypt's Al Masry Al Youm newspaper earlier this year.




But Harbia remains skeptical that the proposed bill will actually pass in the legislature.

"There is no license for using Internet sites. I don't see how they will be able to pass it."

'Girls Only'

The latest Internet radio station currently making waves in Egypt is Banat w Bas (Girls Only).

The first online radio station in Egypt entirely run by women and catering to women, Banat w Bas is an initiative by 25-year-old Computer Science graduate Amani El Tunsi, whose disappointment with the mentality of many Egyptian girls spurred her to set up the station.

"I wanted to reach out to other girls after witnessing how superficial a lot of them have become," El Tunsi said in an interview with the English-language Daily News Egypt.

"They are only interested in hijab styles and make-up. It seemed that girls don't work on improving themselves and consider marriage to be the ultimate goal. They think if they are married, they are successful."

Banat w Bas currently offers listeners a variety of shows, including ‘Mosh Kol Al-Teir’ (Not all the Birds), which refers to an Egyptian proverb saying not all girls are easy to fool. The show revolves around the latest corny tricks used by Egyptian guys to pick up girls.