Alaa Bassiouni Egyptian Satellite channel head Alaa Bassiouni said that his religious background was the reason for he was away from Egyptian television for many years, under the leadership of Anas El-Feki , despite being the son of the journalist Amin Bassiouni and brother of TV presenter Tamer Bassiouni. He said that he started his career as a TV presenter for youth programmes and that he presented several religious programmes on private channels.
However, Bassiouni returned as the head of the Egyptian Satellite channel after the revolution, saying: "But for the revolution, I would not have been a head of Egyptian television."
He expressed his sadness for the continuous attack of the activists for Maspero. Bassiouni said that today he was being attacked for something he was not guilty for- thelies and deceptions El-Feki and the former regime had entrenched for years.
Bassiounni stated: "I have never been against critics. But, what is my fault and my colleagues' to be abused and humiliated in front of our children on TV."
"Once I took over the leadership of the channel four months ago, I have never prevented any guest from raising any issues. Television must express each individual in Egypt. However, I am not responsible for news coverage, as the news sector is responsible for that," he added.
Bassiouni revealed that it was difficult whenever he hosted youths from Tahrir square, as he was accused of being manipulative, and whenever he hosted youths from Abbisiyah, he was accused of trying to influence public opinion. He stated that he hosted the political activist, Alaa Abdel-Fattah following his release.
Bassiouni challenged any private channel or talk show to do the same thing or tackle corruption.
Finally, he affirmed that he was still not satisfied with the channel and that he only achieved about 10 per cent of his dream for the channel. However the channel's 16bn Egpytian pounds of debt and rostr of 43,000 employees are making things tough.