We recognise the vital role played by the media as a potential opinion former and disseminator of information. The media is also a platform for dialogue and debate, plays a significant role in influencing the worldviews of people and societies. We are keen to work with journalists as it’s important that journalists are well informed, objective, in addition to addressing some of the barriers preventing their effective reporting on society issues.
Aswat Masriya is an initiative of Thomson Reuters Foundation’s (TRF) journalism training and media development team, TrustMedia with additional support from the British Council, Arab Partnership Fund and U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
‘This is not only a crucial time in Egyptian history, but also an important opportunity for all Egyptian journalists and reporters’ says Hussein Abdel Fattah.
He is one of 50 journalists that Thompson Reuters Foundation in partnership with British Council Egypt are supporting through the development of the Egyptian Elections Website (Aswat Masriya) whilst also providing training and development opportunities for journalists so that they have the skills to provide web content. This will promote fair and balanced coverage enhancing political participation and creating an environment suitable for strengthening freedom of expression.
The site is an Arabic online resource, Providing information and news on parliamentary and presidential elections in Egypt aimed at better informing journalists, voters and the public at large. Also recognising the role that social media played in the revolution, the website will also have strong social media elements such as regular summaries and digests of elections related twitter and blogging trends and topics.
| 
