Egypt

Nefertiti steals the show at sand sculpture festival

The article doesn't tell us who the artist is. I hope he is Egyptian.

Daily News Egypt

Once again the annual sand sculpture festival has the world wondering about the artistic potential of sand. This year, the ceremony took place in St. Petersburg, Russia, where thousands of people came to see the creative results at this extraordinary festival.

The festival showcased 23 statues using 2.3 tonnes of sand. While animals were the most popular theme among the artists, a few based their work on pop-culture icons as well as historic monuments. Monkeys, lions, and a powerful eagle were showcased on the Neiva River.

Meanwhile, one of the masterpieces garnered a great deal of attention owing to its impeccable detail. The statue brilliantly captured the famous movie Pirates of the Caribbean as it resembled the talented actor Johnny Depp.

With that said, the festival’s brightest gem was a statue inspired by ancient Egyptian monuments that revived the majestic grace of Queen Nefertiti. The sand sculpture proved great attention to detail and measurement as it followed the lines and rules of pre-historic sculptures.

The annual event supports a dying art form that is often neglected. Both the venue and the themes vary every year in order to feature a truly global share of sand-fuelled art.

 

via www.dailynewsegypt.com

Egypt's short Wintry Spring wins best film, Ahmed Kamal best actor in Italy festival

Ahram Online, 
The short film, Wintry Spring (Rabie Chetwy), is directed by Mohamed Kamel and stars Ahmed Kamal

Ahmed Kamal in Wintry Spring (Photo: still from the film)

Egypt's short film Wintry Spring (Rabie Chetwy) scooped-up major awards at the 48th edition of Fotogramma d'Oro, a film festival that was held in Messina, Italy between 25 and 28 May.

Released in 2015 and directed by Mohamed Kamel, the 16-minute film received the best short award and the star, Ahmed Kamal, was awarded the best actor.

The film depicts a relationship between a father and his daughter Nour. In an apparently otherwise regular relationship and life, typical youth problems emerge with Nour and create a rift between the two.

Born in 1981, Mohamed Kamel is an Egyptian film director and screenwriter as well as a graduate from the High Institute of Cinema at the Academy of Arts, Cairo. He has numerous short films -- fiction and documentaries -- to his name, many of which were screened in numerous international festivals. 

Born in 1959, Ahmed Kamal is one of Egypt's well-known actors with a large experience of working in theatre, cinema and television series where he created numerous memorable roles. His filmography includes working with many renowned directors. Kamal also gives acting workshops.

Held annually, the Fotogramma d’Oro (Golden Frame) Film Festival focuses on independent cinema. This year the festival included the screening of 67 short films with duration of between 10 and 20 minutes.

via english.ahram.org.eg

The destructive nature

In the middle of our efforts to build, some continue to destroy and vandalize, not because they are terrorists out to get our Egypt but because these folks don’t care, or were never taught to care

Two photographs went viral on social media. The first has three children jumping up and down on the seats of a brand new train car, their shoes and sandals stomping on the arms and backs of the seats. The side of the seat is scratched and filthy looking, and garbage is scattered on the floor.

The second photo is of the floor in front of the passenger’s seat. A coffee cup lies there, waste is under the seat, and seed shells are strewn all over the place.

In September 2015, this train was one of many train cars that began running across Egypt.  The trains were new and spotless, and we all felt immensely proud that finally the railway system is being revamped and will serve us in an improved fashion. Alas, these trains will not last long.

I found these photos extremely disconcerting and unnerving. While each train cost 10 million pounds, chances are they haven't been paid in full thus far. Yet some unconcerned and totally indifferent passengers are working hard to destroy it and simultaneously destroy the improved life we as Egyptians are striving for.

But some cannot live in cleanliness. The concept is totally foreign to them, and the rest of us have to be penalized for their ways. These folks are so used to the grungy environment that they will go out of their way to soil what is clean and to destroy what is precious.

Disturbingly, the same indifference will seep into every project we work hard to develop and spend fortunes on: the underground metro system, the new overhauled highway system, and the 100s of new housing units that are springing up all over Egypt. Those who are on the defaced train are the same ones who will use the highways and move into the new housing units, and unless we work hard to expose these folks to the notion that communal areas belong to all of us, the Metro will be defaced, the highways will be misused, and the housing units will deteriorate in no time.

Some may say that we should forget rebuilding and development altogether. It is not worth it since a good portion of this population doesn’t really care to keep these projects clean and usable; some may say what the governments in Mubarak’s era used to say: these folks cannot emerge from the rut—leave them there.

I can’t accept this attitude, and it is up to all of us to first change ourselves and then others. We should always react when someone destroys until the environment and attitude change. A pipe dream? Maybe, but we have to start somewhere.

As far as the train incident goes, first, I would have nudged the parents and told them that a sudden train swing may cause the child to fall and break a bone. If this doesn't work, I would tell them bluntly that their children are destroying the new train. I know, I know, the immediate response would have been, “Who are you to tell me what to do?” and I would have persisted and told them that I am a taxpayer, and I want my train to remain clean. Feeling humiliated, they will be raged, but the next time they are on a train, they will most definitely ask their kids to sit down.

The same goes for the passenger who spat the seed shells all around. I would have told him that he must collect his garbage after him. Better yet, I’d have handed him a plastic bag suggesting that he places his waste there. The next time he’s on a train he will refrain from throwing waste on the floor.

The train cleaners/supervisory person must be given enough authority to advise parents to keep their children under control, and to ask the children themselves to step off the seats, and to prohibit the seed eaters from scattering their waste all over the train.

All this means that Egyptians must learn that common and communal areas and facilities belong to all. It is not only one’s apartment that must remain clean; it is also the hallway in front of our apartment, the stairway, the entrance to the apartment building, and the street we live in.

All this means that a child cannot pick a flower, for it is there for everyone; that a park, with its slides and swings, belongs to us all; and that the movie theatre and the mall must remain clean including their washrooms.

This will take time, but the onus falls on all of us to direct, advise, and help these unaware folks so as to change their ways.

On food trail in Egypt

The Tribune, Preeti Verma Lal

 

Falafel

If you are heading to Egypt, pack an extra stomach, please. For the food in the country is so scrumptious and varied that one stomach will never suffice. Koshari. Ful Medames. Kebda. Keshk. Mahshi hamam. Falafel. Asih Merabrah. Hummus. Fetir. Dolma. Kebab 7 kofta. Molokheyya. The names on Egyptian menu card can flummox a new-foodie, but the taste will linger. Do not get surprised if you see a man carrying hundreds of flatbread (roti) on a wooden trellis-like contraption and walking around the bazaars. By the roadside, men sell bread that look like gigantic pretzels and juice sellers carry large samovars on their back filled with hibiscus or tamarind-laced drinks.

All stories of Egyptian cuisine begin with kosheri, a mixture of lentils, rice, pasta, and other ingredients served with tomato puree and caramelised onions. Often called Egypt’s national dish, the best kosheri is served in Cairo’s historical Abo Tarek restaurant where the meal is concluded with roz bel laban, a sweet rice porridge.

Egyptians have been eating bread since times immemorial. Pyramid workers were paid bread and onion as salary. Excavations and dental analysis conclude that ancient Egyptians ate bread made of emmer wheat. Interestingly, bread in Egypt is used more as pocket to stuff things, to scoop food or to ladle soup. The most popular take-away lunch is sandwich — not the usual bread sandwich, but pita bread filled with falafel or meat.

If you love words and tea, head to the coffee shop in Cairo’s Khan-e-Khalili market where Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfooz sipped his mint tea and narrated stories. Walking through the waif-thin alleys can be treacherous, but the tea is soulful and the stories about Naguib enthralling.

The sweet-toothed travel to Alexandria, the old capital of Egypt which was established by Alexander, the Great, and famous for Alexandria Library and the Lighthouse, one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. No one steps out of Alexandria without having large scoops of ice cream in a cone. Or buying crunchy presca (a cross between cookie and chiki) outside the Citadel of Qaitbay. Other desserts include khushaf (dates and dried fruits in water), baked sweet potato, gullash (filo pastry filled with cream or custard and dipped in sugar syrup), kunafa (baked noodles with nuts and double cream).

Pope Shenouda III once said, “Egypt is not a country we live in but a country that lives within us.” You’d agree with the Pope if you ate the Egyptian falafel, flu and kosheri.

via www.tribuneindia.com

اوعي تسامحي ياست سعاد ولو سامحتي الشعب مش حيسامح

اوعي تسامحي ياست سعاد. ولو سامحتي الشعب مش حيسامح. لان الي حصل في المنيا حيحصل ثاني وثالث وعاشر. 

انا عندي اقتراح .ولو ان العبره بالمثل طبعا الي حرق لازم يتحاكم لاننا مش ممكن حنحرق بيت. احنا مش حيوانات زيه. بس ايه رايكم ان الي عري الست الكبيره ديه نقلعه هدومه و نطوف بيه البلده برضه عريان. صحيح ده راجل وكسوفه حيبقي اقل بس اهو برضه احسن ما ياخذ ست اشهر سجن عاله علينا ويطلع هو هو مفيش تغيير. انما لما نلف بيه القريه عريان حيكسف علي دمه وفي نفس الوقت الاخريين حيتعلموا ان الاسلوب السفيه ده حيتعامل بنفس السفاهه. مين عارف يمكن السفاله تخف

شير لو شايفين ده اقتراح ينفع

المصري اليوم

نشرت مطرانية المنيا وأبوقرقاص للأقباط الأرثوذكس تسجيلا لسيدة الكرم «سعاد ثابت عبدالله»، 86 عاما، تؤكد فيه شكرها للرئيس عبدالفتاح السيسي .

وقالت: «أشكر الرئيس عبدالفتاح السيسي على ما بذله معانا من مجهود، وأشكر البابا تواضروس والأنبا مكاريوس».

وتابعت: «أنا مش عاوزه حد يعمل معايا أي حوار، وأنا لم أطلب مساعدات من أحد، ولم أطلب من أي شخص يقف جانبي.. أنا مسمحاهم والله يسامحهم».

جريدة الدستور: «طعنات الحبر المسموم».. فضيحة الجارديان تكشف مخطط الصحف العالمية لإسقاط مصر.. نشر تقارير وقصص كاذبة وتحريضية بهدف إثارة الفتن

نيفين أشرف

 

إن كان اعتذار صحيفة الجارديان البريطانية، عن فضيحة التقارير المفبركة، التي نشرها مراسلها بالقاهرة، جوزيف مايتون، أمرًا مهمًا، ويكشف عن قضية في غاية الخطورة، فإن الأهم والأخطر، هو لماذا لم تكشف الصحيفة عن طبيعة المواد المحذوفة، ليتبيّن حجم وكمية الأكاذيب التي روجتها، والموضوعات التحريضية، التي دأبت على إشعال الداخل المصري من خلالها.

كان على الجريدة الموقّرة، ألا تنتهج أسلوب الدفن ليلا، وأن تكشف عن الموضوعات، واحدًا واحدًا، كما نشرته على الملأ، كي يكون الاعتذار كاملا، لكن الواقعة تسلّط الضوء على الأسلوب العام للصحف الأجنبية، حيال تغطيتها الأحداث المصرية، إذ تعمّدت وسائل الإعلام الأجنبية، أن توجه طعنات مسمومة للدولة المصرية عبر اختلاق التقارير الكاذبة، التي لا تستهدف سوى أمن واستقرار مصر.

«إندبندنت» والطائرة الروسية
فى نوفمبر 2015، عقب حادث سقوط الطائرة الروسية في سيناء، نشرت صحيفة «إندبندنت»، تقريراً لها نقلت خلاله صوراً نشرها وائل حسين، مراسل «بى بى سى»، لأحد موظفى الخدمة السريعة بمطار شرم الشيخ، وهو يتقاضى رسوم خدمة استقبال الـ«فى آى بى» المعمول بها بعدة مطارات عالمية، وزعمت أنها تظهر رجال أمن يتقاضون أموالاً لتسهيل مرور السياح وتخطيهم الإجراءات الأمنية.

ورغم تكذيب وائل حسين، مراسل «بى بى سى»، للصحيفة البريطانية، على حسابه على «تويتر»، الذى نشر عليه الصور، إلا أنها تجاهلته وأصرت على روايتها.

وذكر حسين، عبر حسابه على تويتر، أنه رأي أحد موظفي المطار، يتقاضي 15 دينارا أردنيا، مقابل «الخدمة السريعة»، والتي يعبر بها السائح بدون الانتظار في الطوابير، فيما نقلت الصحيفة البريطانية، الصور وزعمت أنها رشاوى للأمن لتجاوز الإجراءات والتفتيشات الأمنية.

«ديلى ميل».. البريطانية أيضًا
ولاحقتها صحيفة «ديلى ميل» البريطانية، المعروفة بأنها أحد الصحف الصفراء، في بث مغالطات وأكاذيب حول حادث الطائرة الروسية بسيناء، حيث قامت الصحيفة بفبركة تقرير لها عن نجاة طائرة بريطانية من صاروخ فى سيناء.

وقالت فيه إن «حادث الطائرة الروسية ليس الأول من نوعه، وإنه فى 23 أغسطس الماضى، نجح طيار بريطانى فى تفادى صاروخ كان سيصيب طائرته فوق شرم الشيخ»، محاولة تسليط ضوء كاذب بأن ما حدث للطائرة البريطانية كان هجوماً إرهابياً، رغم أنها عادت لتؤكد أنه صاروخ تدريبى وأن الطائرة لم تستهدف.

من جانبها، نفت الحكومة البريطانية رسمياً كل ما نشر فى هذا الشأن، وقال وزير الخارجية البريطانى فيليب هاموند، إن تحقيقا أجرى فى الأمر، وإن الطائرة التابعة لشركة طومسون للخطوط الجوية لم تكن تواجه أى خطر.

وأضاف هامون فى مقابلة تليفزيونية: أنا متأكد من أنه كان سوء فهم، حيث كانت هناك مناورات عسكرية مصرية تجرى على الأرض وأعتقد أننى اقتنعت واقتنع الجميع فى نظامنا فى نهاية هذا التحقيق بأن ذلك لم يكن هجوما على الطائرة، لم تتعرض الطائرة للخطر فى أى وقت.

اعتذار شبكة CNN
وفي أعقاب حادث اختفاء الطائرة المصرية مؤخرًا، قامت شبكة CNN الأمريكية، بنشر تصريحات كاذبة مفادها، أن الطيار المصري قد أقدم على الانتحار بواسطة الطائرة المصرية وإسقاطها بالبحر الأبيض المتوسط، وهو ما نفته أسرة قائد الطائرة.

و على أثر ذلك، قدمت شبكة «سى إن إن» اعتذارًا لعائلة الطيار المصرى محمد شقير بعد التصريحات التى نقلتها عبر موقعها، وأكد شهاب شقير، والد الطيار المصرى أن الشبكة اعتذرت رسميًا عن تناولها أخبارا عن انتحاره.

استقالة مراسلة فرنسية
ولم تكن شائعة انتحار قائد الطائرة المصرية أول الأكاذيب التي تداولتها الصحف الأجنبية عقب اختفاء الطائرة، ففي ذات السياق كشفت، فينسيان مراسلة صحيفة «Le Soir» بالقاهرة، أنه عقب اختفاء طائرة مصر للطيران بين باريس والقاهرة، طُلب منها التركيز على توجيه الاتهام إلى الأمان فى شركة الطيران المصرية، بدلاً من كتابة مقال عن الوقائع الفعلية.

وأكدت المراسلة فى بوست لها على موقع التواصل الاجتماعى «فيس بوك» باللغتين العربية والفرنسية، رفضها لما طلب منها قائلة: "رفضت قائلةً أننى لم أستطع لقاء الأهالى الذين رفضوا الحديث مع الإعلام، وبما إن سبب الحادث غير معروف وليس لدينا حتى مؤشرات، لم أكن أستطيع توجيه الاتهام، ولا حتى التلميح بمسئولية،

via www.dostor.org

The tomb of one of the most important women in ancient Egypt has just been unearthed

Science Alert

The woman behind Egypt's most powerful rulers.

The daughter of a prince and the mother of two of the most powerful governors in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, a noblewoman known as Lady Sattjeni has been unearthed some 3,800 years after her death, in an ancient tomb in southeastern Egypt.

Wrapped in linen and deposited inside a wooden coffin inside another wooden coffin, Sattjeni’s remains are still remarkably preserved, and were found alongside an inscription identifying her as the woman whose family sat directly below pharaoh Amenemhat III, who ruled ancient Egypt from 1800 to 1775 BC.

"The discovery is of a historic importance because Sattjeni is one of the most important figures in the Middle Kingdom, being the mother of Heqaib III and Amaeny-Senb - two of the highest authorities of Elephantine under the reign of Amenemhat III," Mahmoud Afify, head of the Ancient Egyptian Archaeology Sector at Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities, announced today.

This Russian Doll-style double-coffin provided such incredible protection from the elements, remains of Sattjeni’s facepaint and original burial mask were still intact, made from layers of linen and papyrus, and covered in plaster.

The inner coffin was so well preserved, archaeologists could not only figure out the type of wood used to construct it - cedar from Lebanon - but also the year that it was cut. Let's just stop for a second to take that in: scientists now have the capability to figure out the date - down to the year - that a single tree was felled to construct a coffin almost 4,000 years ago.

The tomb was found inside the royal necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa, a group of rock-cut tombs on the western bank of the Nile, opposite the south Egypt city of Aswan.

While many of the tombs inside have been dated to the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt - during the 3rd millennium BC - some, like Sattjeni’s, come from a more recent time when the royal family of southern Egypt was located on the famous island of Elephantine, which floats in the middle of the Nile.

Here, Sattjeni, the daughter of daughter of Prince Sarnbhut II, gave birth to two sons, Heqaib III and Ameny-Seneb, who would become the most powerful governors during the rule of Amenemhat III.

The team of Spanish archaeologists behind the discovery will now analyse her remains to figure out what she looked like, when she died, and what the most likely cause of death was.

"The body of Sattjeni was laying in her original position with some remains of the original covering of wrappings. The body is in excellent condition, which will permit our team of anthropologists to know more about her living conditions, age of death, pathologies, ethnic features," the Ministry of Antiquities told the press.

The team is yet to publish their findings, but we should see an official report once the autopsy has been completed.

 

via www.sciencealert.com

Canada has to help Egypt and Tunisia before it’s too late: Dion

ipolitics, by Elizabeth Thompson

WINNIPEG – Canada has to help support Egypt and Tunisia if it wants to prevent the troubled countries from the world’s next hot spots, says Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion.

During a late afternoon foreign affairs and defence session with delegates to the Liberal Party’s biennial policy convention, much of the focus was on the role that Canada could, and should, play in preventing international conflicts.

One of the most important things Canada can do is to provide support for countries near the brink before the conflict escalates, Dion told delegates.

“I was in Tunisia and in Egypt this week – two countries that are still functional, trying to become democracies, struggling to progress,” he explained. “But the environment is awfully difficult – with the neighbours they have, the tensions, the terrorist groups that are all around. They are trying to succeed. They are asking Canada to be there and we have to respond before it is too late.”

That is also why Canada has stepped up support for Lebanon and Jordan, two counties adjoining Syria, he said.

“We need to be in Lebanon and in Jordan – that is prevention. If you neglect the countries that are not in the turmoil, but have the burden of the turmoil, and are trying to stay functional – and Lebanon is not easy to stay a functional state under the circumstances,” said Dion, pointing out that between one quarter and one third of the population right now – about 10,000 people – are refugees.

“If we don’t support these countries, then we the opportunity to have prevention and when the collapse will happen it will be much more complicated for us to figure out what to do.”

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said conflict around the world has risen and agreed that Canada has to get “better at preventing conflict in the first place. Sajjan said Canada is dealing with “significant challenges” – particularly when it comes to terrorist groups like ISIL.

“ISIL is trying to create a network. We have recruitment now from Boko Haram that is feeding into ISIL…Al Shabaab is feeding into ISIL. We have significant challenges in the Sinai (Peninsula) right now because of what is happening in Libya.”

Sajjan said it is also important for the government to understand a conflict, particularly if Canada contemplates intervening, and to follow it up with development and the right type of governance.

“When we look at intervention like Libya, what we have to make sure is that we do not contribute or end up creating another political vacuum because a political vacuum is what other radical organizations are looking for and it will be filled by somebody less desirable than the one that you took out.”

Read on here. 

via ipolitics.ca

Egypt digs deep for gold in desert where pharaohs only scratched

Bloomberg News, via the Vancouver Sun

Mark Campbell, president of Canadian exploration company Alexander Nubia, poses for a photograph inside a tent in the company's camp in eastern desert, between Luxor and Hurghada, Egypt. Mining has been going on here for over 5,000 years, but in the 21st century it's essentially virgin ground," said Campbell. Alexander Nubia is increasing its drilling this year in a 1,070-square mile area in the desert. "Exploring for gold and minerals in Egypt today with modern technology is like having a map where X marks the spot." BRIAN ROHAN / AP

Miners in Egypt are digging deep at what will be the country’s second gold mine, excavating in a desert where the pharaohs tried without much success to unearth the precious metal 5,000 years ago.

Alexander Nubia International Inc., a Vancouver-based miner, may open the as yet unnamed mine by 2019 at a cost of up to $500 million, Chief Executive Officer Mark Campbell said in an interview at the company’s Cairo offices. Centamin Plc operates Egypt’s only other active gold mine, Sukari, which opened in 2009 and produced 439,072 ounces by last year.

“We’re using modern technology to go where the ancients went before, and basically exploit what they couldn’t,” Campbell said. “The old-timers could go to about 30 meters (98 feet) and mined by hand. They didn’t have the technology to go deeper.” Alexander Nubia is drilling core samples at depths of up to 350 meters, more than twice the height of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Egypt had all but abandoned mining after its British rulers left in 1952. The pharaohs, the Romans and the British all dug in the mineral-rich Arabian-Nubian Shield area in the country’s Eastern Desert, but they lacked equipment that could go deep enough to extract much gold. Centamin introduced modern open-pit mining to Egypt that helped to identify deep-lying resources. 

 

While the country has significant natural gas deposits, its mining industry is much less developed. Mining and quarrying contribute only 0.4 per cent of its gross domestic product and 1.5 per cent of total exports, in spite of the large potential, Campbell said.

“Our main focus is gold, but we will of course look at all other precious and base metals that we may have in this deposit,” Campbell said. Geologists at Alexander Nubia are currently collecting samples to be sent for analysis in Romania.

Alexander Nubia is exploring over 2,700 square kilometers (1,042 square miles) in Egypt’s Eastern Desert, about 800 kilometers southeast of Cairo, in an area known as the Arabian-Nubian Shield. The company expects to announce its initial estimate of resources from the area later this year and declare a discovery in one or two years, Campbell said. The company has identified at least six sites that were mined in ancient times and show potential for production.

The company’s shares have climbed 25 per cent this year in trading on the Toronto TSX Venture Exchange, lagging behind Centamin’s 59 per cent advance in London, as gold rallied.

via vancouversun.com

A note to our readers about a reporter who breached our trust

The Guardian, by Lee Glendinning

After sources quoted in several stories denied speaking with a freelance reporter, Joseph Mayton, the Guardian has fact-checked all of his stories. We are taking down 13 and removing quotes and information that could not be verified

At the Guardian, we cherish the trust our readers place in us to provide an accurate and vivid account of the world. That’s why we acted immediately to investigate when sources claimed that they had not spoken with the writer of the piece they were quoted in.

The article in question, from February, was by a freelance journalist, Joseph Mayton, who began writing opinion pieces for the Guardian in London in 2009, while based in Egypt. He contributed several opinion pieces before starting to write occasional US news stories, on a freelance basis, in May 2015 from California. These stories ranged from coverage of wildfires to issues related to marijuana farms, urban vineyards and whale deaths on the coast.

When Mayton was unable to provide convincing evidence that the interviews in question in the February article had taken place, we hired an independent fact-checker to investigate all of his prior work, which comprised of 37 single-byline articles published between 2015 and 2016, seven shared byline stories from the same period, and 20 opinion pieces written from 2009 to 2015.

In an investigation that included approximately 50 interviews, our fact-checker found articles that contained likely or confirmed fabrication, including stories about two events that organizers said he didn’t attend. Dozens of sources could not be found – either they had no online presence or they were anonymous and could not be substantiated – and several people quoted in Mayton’s articles either denied speaking with him or giving the quotes attributed to them.

Our editors met with Mayton twice in person and emailed him dozens of times, giving him more than a month from the time the first allegations were presented to him to provide notes, phone records, contact information and other evidence. All evidence he provided has been taken into account, but he was unable or unwilling to provide information on most sources.

Mayton has denied any fabrication, and did not provide any on-the-record comment about the findings of our investigation.

In light of the extent of the fabrication and the uncertainty surrounding many of the articles, we are removing 12 of the news stories, and one opinion piece from the Guardian website. In the articles that remain, quotes and information that could not be verified have been removed, and we have published footnotes on each article page to outline this. There were other stories which proved accurate, with no corrections needed, and have been left as is.

How did this happen? We receive thousands of ideas and pitches from freelancers every year, and we commission large volumes of writing from those not on staff. All freelancers are asked to abide by our editorial code and we take care to make sure that their reporting and writing is of the quality we expect, and you, our readers, deserve.

Mayton wrote only sporadically for the Guardian – he was an infrequent but long term contributor and many different editors in the organization have dealt with his work across opinion, news, arts, sports and features. At first, the quality of his writing met our standards, and thus a trusted working relationship was established.

It is incredibly difficult to detect manufactured quotes – the voices of people on the street who cannot later be verified, for example – which can go unquestioned without a reason to draw the attention of an editor to query them.

During the course of this investigation we have questioned ourselves at length over what we could have done differently to prevent this from happening and have come to two firm conclusions as a result.

First, we need to know more about the freelancers we work with before they start writing for us regularly. These are often people we haven’t met, but we go on to place an inherent degree of trust that the work they are filing to us is true. We are currently reviewing our processes in order to improve due diligence in relation to regular contributors.

Second, we need to take a closer look at occasions where individuals are not named in a story for no strong reason. We need to question the use of anonymous sourcing in any story; a policy we hold, but have not enforced strictly enough. There are occasions where it is of course necessary, such as in sensitive national security reporting, but these stories were not among them.

We want to apologize to those people whose words were misrepresented or falsified. We also want to say sorry to you, our readers, for the errors that have been made here, and hope that it has not compromised the trust you place in the Guardian. We assure you we will do better.

 

via www.theguardian.com