Governance management in national press institutions – An analytical study

      This study aims to take advantage of “governance” as the latest concept in management, which is concerned with achieving administrative control and rational economic performance and trying to develop a proposal for application to national press institutions that face many challenges that threaten their existence and the continuation of their journalistic mission.
       The study dealt with detailed research all the circumstances surrounding press institutions, in terms of their establishment, administrative structures and newspapers issued, and the development of administrative thought in press legislation and its repercussions on working with them, starting with Law regulating the press No. 156 of 1960, to the National Press Authority Law No. 179 of 2018 It monitored efforts to solve the institutions’ problems, most notably the study of Hazem Hassan’s office in 2005, the study of the Shura Council Committee in 2006, the study of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, and then what was proposed by the General Conferences of the Journalists’ Syndicate in 1964, 1991, 1995, 2004 and 2016.
      The study discussed the financial and financing problems of press institutions and the development of government spending or funding provided by the state. It revealed that the most serious problem facing the journalistic activity is represented in the gap between the cost of producing the newspaper and its selling price to the public, where the actual cost ranges between 9 to 12 pounds on average, while its selling price is 3 pounds, from which the institution enters 2.22 pounds after deducting distribution expenses. This represents a radical change to many of the concepts that used to consider distribution the first source of revenue for the press organization, as it turns out that distribution does not cover more than 18.5% of the newspaper's production cost, And if newspapers compensate for those losses from the advertising space they sell, the advertising resource has also suffered a sharp decline during the past years, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, which severely affected economic activity.
      The study polled the opinions of 40 personalities representing elite leaders, journalists and academic professors, and monitored their views on the issues it raised. It identified the institution's problems in 12 topics represented in the legislative, administrative and technical conditions governing its work, and the financial and financing problems affecting its performance.
      The study reached 13 recommendations to solve the problems of institutions, including Suggestions to address the negative aspects of management. And the appropriate governance model to apply to press institutions through 5 elements: disclosure and transparency (24%), determining responsibility (22.8%), accountability (19.8%), decentralization (17.6 percent), and participation (15.6 percent). ).  Amending Law 179 of 2018. The controversy over the nature of the role of the press institution was resolved. And the conditions that must be met so that institutions can achieve financial balance, emphasize their inability to give up the funding provided by the government, and the need to invest their assets to help them cover part of their burdens.
      The study monitored the development of government spending or funding provided to press institutions, which is not a novelty, and provided examples of forms of funding provided by Western governments to their media institutions, most notably the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation model, where government funding is estimated at 71% of the authority's budget. And she demanded that government funding for its press institutions should continue, which the constitution affirms state ownership of, but according to controls and follow-up to the performance of departments in press institutions.
      The study developed a formula for the shape of the press institution in the future, which is to turn into a multi-platform content institution, of which the printed paper newspaper is one of its elements.
      The study warned against taking any measures to merge institutions, and stressed that this would exacerbate their problems, with the need to reconsider press releases that did not achieve the goal of their existence after allowing them to develop. The study revealed that the content currently provided by national newspapers does not help institutions achieve economic success, and put forward a set of proposals for its development.
      The study adopted an integrated formula for the economic operation to save expenses, while preserving the entity of press institutions, by integrating joint printing activities, and suggested that this start with institutions: Dar Al-Hilal, Rose Al-Youssef, and Dar Al-Maaref as institutions that issue magazines, while preserving the administrative structure and the press and historical identity of each institution. Follow-up and evaluation of the experience to examine the possibility of generalizing it to other institutions in the future.
      Above all these recommendations, it remains important to have a serious will to preserve the press institutions, which takes into account the results of this study and other efforts, because these institutions are an essential pillar of the press industry, and a national wealth that should not be neglected.