Yasser Thabet

Yasser Talaat Hafez Thabet is an Egyptian journalist and writer.

Biography

Born 1964-05-07 in Cologne, Germany, Thabet gained a BA in Journalism from the Mass Communication Faculty at Cairo University, Egypt in May 1985 and a Masters degree in Journalism from the Centre for Journalism Studies, University of Wales, Cardiff in 1998. In September 2000, he gained his PhD degree in Journalism from Barrington University, US.

While studying at Cairo University, he was selected to head the foreign affairs department at the University newspaper, Sawt Al-Gamea, Arabic for "Voice of the University". He started his professional career at Al-Ahram when he was a student and continued his career as a Foreign Affairs Editor until he resigned in 2006.

Career

Yasser Thabet was among the main journalists who started a unique experience in Egyptian journalism, called Independent Journalism. The main step of this experience was the widespread newspaper Al-Dostour. In 1991, he was among the founders of the first daily business newspaper in Egypt, titled Al-Alam Al-Youm, Arabic for "World Today". In 2001, he became the managing editor of Sawt Al-Ummah private-owned newspaper, before leaving for Qatar in August 2002 to be Senior Producer of Al-Jazeera Channel.

In September 2006 he returned to Egypt to be the program editor of El-Beit Beitak, Egyptian Arabic for Feel at Home, which is one of the most important talk shows on Egyptian television. It broadcasts daily at 09:00 PM, except for Thursday and Friday. In March 2007, he travelled to US where he started his new post as the chief editor of Al-Hurra Channel. However, political and media pressures by the neo-conservatives, specially due to his previous work with Al-Jazeera, forced him to submit his resignation. [1]

Starting November 2007, Thabet became Program Editor of Al-Arabiya Channel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Blogging

Thabet writes regularly in his well-known blog Qabl Al-Tofan[2], Arabic for Before The Deluge about history, literature and even sports in a distinguished and articluated style.

In 27 November 2008, The Deutsche Welle International Weblog Awards -- The BOBs –announced that "Before the Deluge" won the People's Choice prize as the Best Weblog Arabic[3]. The jury said that "Yasser's entries about historical figures and events tends to be among the Arab blogsphere's most well-researched posts. An established journalist and talented, creative storyteller, he gives his readers a new view on old stories".

Books

Thabet authored several books, including:

• Qabl Al-Tofan: Al-Tarikh Al-Dha'ia lil-Al-Mahrousa fi Modawana Misryia (Before the Deluge: The Missing History of Egypt in an Egyptian Blog)- (2008) Cairo: Mizan Book. [4]
• Jomhouriyat Al-Fawdha: Hikayt Inhisar Al-Watan wa Inkisar Al-Mowatin (The Republic of Chaos: A Story of a Fallen Nation and a Perished Citizen)- (2008) Cairo: Mizan Book.[5]
• Thakerat Al-Qarn Al-Eshrin (Memory of the 20th Century)- (2002) Cairo: Al-Dar Al-Arabiya Lil-Kitab.[6]
• Mawsoua't Ka'as Al-Alam (World Cup Encyclopedia)- (1994) Cairo: Madbouly Al-Saghir.