I was at the Journalists Syndicate in Cairo today, and the atmosphere was suffocating. As a producer, I’m used to high-pressure environments, but this sit-in felt different—it felt like a funeral for what’s left of our industry. Seeing my colleagues gather to protest the detention of the entire Matsadaash newsroom is a gut-punch.

I’ve spent my career trying to craft narratives that reflect reality, but how can we function when the state treats fact-checking like terrorism? Matsadaash—literally 'Don't Believe It'—was one of the few platforms left calling out the absolute nonsense circulating online. Now, they’re being smeared with the usual 'Muslim Brotherhood' and 'foreign funding' labels. It’s a lazy, recycled script that no secular liberal with half a brain actually buys.

When we lose the people who verify facts, we’re left with nothing but state-sponsored fiction and WhatsApp rumors. We aren’t just losing journalists; we’re losing the ability to have a coherent national conversation. If we can’t protect the truth-tellers, we might as well just turn the cameras off for good. It's a dark day for Egyptian media.