“I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” This was Thomas Jefferson’s decisive answer when asked to choose between “a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government.” Throughout the past four centuries, the universal avowal of democracy and the rule of law have dramatically evolved. As a …

In an effort to elucidate the legal structures governing the media in Egypt, as well as the country's declared obligations according to international law, Mostafa Shaat offers a breakdown of the existing frameworks, highlighting inconsistencies between the legal concept of freedom of the press as delineated in international law and Egypt's national laws. He further discusses some of the current reform efforts underway.