Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing series about press freedom and safety in various countries around the world.
The space not just for press freedom but freedom of expression of any kind has dramatically shrunk in Egypt under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who took power in a coup in 2013.* Egypt was hardly a bastion of a free and fair press under previous regimes, but under Sisi, government entities have consolidated their control over nearly every major media outlet. Journalists of all affiliations and nationalities also face a variety of threats to their safety, including harassment, arrests, physical violence and deportation.
In an interview from Cairo, Jared Malsin, a Middle East correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, discusses Sisi’s severe crackdown on the media in Egypt. The following transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.