In a Special Report on Thursday, Reuters revealed the real force behind Egypt’s “revolution of the state.” Asma Alsharif and Yasmine Saleh reported that Egypt’s Interior Ministry and police – harboring grudges that date back to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 – were prime movers in overthrowing the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Mursi. In a Reuters Best: Journalist Spotlight Q&A, Asma, a Reuters correspondent in Cairo, offers an inside look at the reporting behind their revealing Special Report.
Q. How did this story get started?
A. After July 3, when Mursi was ousted, most people were ecstatic and considered the army and General Sisi their saviors for helping them get rid of Mursi. When Sisi later called for a mandate to fight "terrorism" and violence, it was seen as another step that he was taking to confront the Muslim Brotherhood – and his popularity soared further among the public.
Yasmine and I wanted to look deeper into General Sisi and the military’s role leading up to June 30, as well as in the forced dispersal of the pro-Mursi camps which killed hundreds of protesters and veered away from a cabinet approved plan to use warnings, tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds. As we were trying to get more details on what happened and why the police were so brutal in dispersing the protesters, we learned during an interview with one security source that the police had a much bigger role in the events leading up to June 30. We reassessed and started reporting on this new and more exciting angle.
The interior ministry officials were very vocal in describing the conditions they had under Mubarak versus what they endured under Mursi. As they talked about that more, it was evident they had a lot of resentment built up for their lost status and now that they are getting that status back, it is clear that they have come back stronger.
Q. What types of reporting/sourcing were involved?
A. The report was mostly based on interviews with different ranks of officers in the army and the interior ministry, as well as politicians and diplomats. Yasmine, who was here during the 2011 revolution and before, could recall some of the reporting she did during the "Day of Rage" on January 28 where some officers had their throats slit. Additionally, there was also a lot of footage showing the carnage on January 28 with attacks on police stations, as well as recorded messages of policemen panicking and crying for help. We were also able to find YouTube videos of a clip that aired on Al Jazeera showing the escape of Muslim Brotherhood members from the Wadi al-Natroun prison and a phone call from Mursi saying that they had made it out. That was very useful to add color to the story and explain the built-up resentment of the police against the Brotherhood.
Q. What was the hardest part about reporting this story?
A. It was difficult to find security sources who would agree to talk to journalists. That is something we had to build up over time and we continue to do for future stories. Because of the sensitivity of the subject, most of the sources did not want to be named. Assuring them that we would not name them allowed our sources to be more open and talk more freely.
Q. What advantages does working at Reuters give you in working on a story like this?
A. Reuters is well a respected organization, so when we tell a source that we are talking to them in order to show their side of the story to the world, they are more responsive and they trust that we will be fair in our report.
Q. What makes you passionate about journalism?
A. Being able to reveal the truth behind events that shape the future and playing a small part in documenting what will one day be written in history books, as well as witnessing the events first hand, is extremely exciting.
Q. Anything else you’d like to share?
A. This special report was totally different than what we originally started reporting. There were some tough moments at first, Yasmine and I both had a surge of energy and things started moving quickly once we found the new angle. Sometimes things don’t feel quite right in a story you are reporting on at first – this should be a sign to continue digging until they do.
To read the latest from Asma Al Sharif, click here.
