CAIRO — A protocol between Egypt's Supreme Council for Media Regulation and the Nasser Military Academy calls for editors-in-chief of Egyptian newspapers and websites to enroll in mandatory strategic training sessions in media and national security. Former generals who now teach at the academy are giving the lectures. The sessions were announced Feb. 7 by Media Regulation Council Chairman Makram Mohammed Ahmed, stirring controversy among journalists.

A week earlier, on Jan. 31, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had lambasted media figures at the inauguration ceremony of the Zohr gas field at Port Said. He urged them to make certain of the accuracy of the news they report.

The Nasser Military Academy, established under a 1965 presidential decree to provide high-ranking military officers with capacity building and training for higher posts, was inaugurated that year by President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Hatem Zakaria, a member of the council, told Al-Monitor that one goal of the sessions is to give editors training to identify news and articles that would harm national security if published. He said the council approved a cooperation protocol for the sessions with the academy on Dec. 27.