Al-Masry Al-Youm Gets its Own Printing Plant

This won't seem like much to most Westerners but it's very interesting from an Egyptian perspective: the independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm (their preferred transliteration, not mine) is getting its own printing plant and is expressing gratitude to Al-Ahram for having printed it for the past several years. For years, the independent press in Egypt has been dependent on the government press for printing, paper supply, and distribution, so that a vigorous independent press has always been to some extent at the mercy of the government. The papers of the various opposition parties were often susceptible to seizure, and control of the presses generally gave an added layer of government supervision. I haven't read Al-Masry al-Youm daily, but it does seem to be doing a pretty good job of providing a balanced coverage not directly in the government's pocket and not specifically the mouthpiece of an opposition party, either. Their main website is here in Arabic; English (not always well translated) is here.

Acquiring their own print shop should be an important step forward for the independent press in Egypt. It will be interesting to see if it shows.