Journalists or Propagandists?

For years, the right-wing has been complaining about the partisanship and lack of balance in the Israeli media, pointing to the near total domination of this important medium by people who are politically-driven and overwhelmingly left-wing.

These allegations were almost always met with a dismissive sneer and a wave of the hand, despite overwhelming evidence to back them up.

But now, one of Israel’s top journalists has come along and essentially confirmed what we knew to be true all along: that the media in this country is agenda-driven, and aggressively so.

Speaking at a conference held at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem, Amnon Abramovich, who is considered one of the country’s leading commentators and investigative reporters, had this to say about the role of Israel’s media in the run-up to the proposed Gaza withdrawal: “I think that we need to protect Sharon like an etrog [a citron fruit used by religious Jews on the Sukkot festival which requires special care and protection]”.

In case anyone did not understand the thrust of his remarks, Abramovich added, “The person who established the settlement enterprise is Sharon, and if a good spirit has come over him toward the end of his life and he is ready to tear it down, then in my opinion we need to protect him not only from political obstacles but also from legal obstacles too” (Maariv, April 26, 2005).

Hmmm – so according to Abramovich, now that Sharon is carrying out the policies of the left, the job of the media watchdogs is no longer to monitor him and serve as a check on his power, but to “protect” him and enable him to fulfill his political agenda. Silly me – I thought that newspapers were supposed to report the news, not try to shape it.

Some of Abramovich’s media colleagues were quick to dispute his assertions, obviously dismayed that he would dare to reveal one of the deepest and darkest secrets of their trade – namely, that Israel’s newspapers are manned largely by propagandists, not journalists.

But the cat, as they say, is now out of the bag – Israel’s major papers are little more than partisan broadsheets, and they can no longer deny it.

Comments

[Marcel]

It seems that not only is the cat out of the bag ,but that the cat controls the program ,the power,the channel and the big show. At least that is what these arrogant leftist, humanist elitest believe.
Do these blind demi-gods believe that their agenda will overthrow Hashem an d His plan ?
WOW,are they in for a surprise,there is one greater who RULES in the heavens who will no longer remain silent because He has heard the cries from His own.

[Adina Kutnicki]

While it is always important and gratifying to have written confirmation that one is correct in his/her assessments - specifically the left's hegemony over Israel's "media enterprise" - anyone who hasn't been blinded by "peace" noises realized this long ago.

The media for the most part in Israel does not abide by any journalistic ethics. Rather, it serves the interests of the leftist "elites" who hold sway over all the powers in the country, most notably the judiciary, leftist politicians and the academics.

These immoral journalists (if you can call them such, I prefer to call them media whores) will protect Sharon now at all costs, in the same manner that they vilified him at all costs when he was busy pretending to be a rightist.

[Allan]

Okay. So now the world knows that the Journalist Club of Israel promotes the current agends with which it happens to agree instead of merely reporting the "who, what, when, where, why" of the story. So they place themselves in the same category as the purveyors of poo that exist in North Korea. So what? Well, this is "so what". For those who readers who agree with the prevailing agenda they are being stroked in the manner which will keep them happy since their point of view is being emitted by the "mouthpieces for the obviously correct". (How can it matter - we know we're right.) But for those who object to "sell-out" journalism, it won't matter either - because they will not only not try to stop the flow of poo, they will continue to buy it, watch it, listen to it. You get what you deserve.

[Michael Zebulon]

Sir

Sorry to be taking the liberty of contacting you this way, but I don't know how ELSE to do so, given the circumstances.

What I WANT to do is respond to your earlier, POLLARD article, but you've constructed the website in such a way that I can't access that column in its entirety [even via your archives] at this time. That, of course, makes it impossible to access the "Comments" section for the article either.

Can you help? I've got quite a bit to say on the subject.

Sincere thanks.

Michael Zebulon

[Tuvia Schertzman, MD]

The events occurring in Gush Katif are not new and unique. In 1997 I was forced out of my home on Maale Amos along with at least 20 other families after a concerted effort by certain politicians in Gush Etzion along with police backing. I and others were hauled off and threatened by the police to leave our homes. The result was that many families either left the country, divorced, or are today living in dire poverty as refugees. The main reason for this problem was that we were building our yishuv at the fastest pace in yesha. When we turned to every institution for help, including Shaul Goldstein, they all refused to help. I have full documentation should you or anyone else be interested in seeing. We have been suffering in silence because we felt it would hurt the movement to settle the land. However, don't think for a second that anything that is being done is new or unique. I can already tell you the punchline.

[yehudah pritt sehmi]

It is common knowledge how the media influences a
large number of people,There are the tabloids for minds
that like simple reading,and papers that have more depth
in there stories and yet say nothing at all. The radio
television satelite all do the same.Yet all the media is
aimed at a mind of an eight year old,with an aim to put
the person into a mold.If one does not fit this mold he is labelled a free thinker.
There are children who are mentally adults, how
through the media their minds have been subjected to
every form of violence and depravity,there are those that
will say it's reality.But to hammer the mind of a child
from the day he is born until he is a teenager??? is not
reality.innocence goes out of the window.
The reality of yesterday is not the reality of today.
Mida Cneged Mida
There was a couple,and the gentleman in question his
wife conceived,naturally they went to the medical center
to check in excitement they looked at the scanner to see
a baby with a beating heart,ten weeks into the pregnancy
The couple went back a week later to see the doctor.Even
before looking at the results the Dr. Looked at the couple and said "there is no heart beat"
The husband questioned her statement finally replying
"the nurse who had done the ultrasound and himself had seen the beating heart".He handed the results to the Dr in question.Again she replied "there is no heartbeat"
The verdict for the child had already been made by other
parties.In the days that followed the husband wept tears
as his wife was quickly admitted to hospital.The baby
was disposed of. The husband recalls to this day the
blood stained sheets,
Like a nitemare the doctor at the hospital told the husband to give his wife pegnancy hormone tablets.A few days after to return to the center for a check up.If the hormone is high he will need to do a fallopian tube examination.The husband did not do as this Dr. had requested.All had been covered up.with no proof.It sounds
like a story from another era.Something that could have
happened fifty years ago or more.
The husband could not forget what had happened.He spoke to a few people.He said "If HaShem is there He must do something for the injustice if not there must be
another that will answer"
That week a lady threw herself from a building landing
landing on a child as her parents came to collect him.
They saw their child die. A plague of locusts swarmed Eilat just before shabbat.All concerned lived close by.
They changed the staff at the medical center.Wether these things were connected or not only HaShem knows.
The media can try to arrange events,but HaShem works outside of the media.And He has his timetable.His timetable over rides all of mans plans & schmes.The media can only report that which it sees or to change the information so the public comes to know a partial truth.The moral is .......HaShem Hears and does.
"a person can lie to some of the people some of the time,
but he cannot lie to all of the people all of the time.
When we see all the reasons that man hates man and always for a reason. To Protect the unborn child will be the biggest change in any nation. Technology can be stolen it’s patents misused, like works of art,music or
new patents.....but to protect the unborn child ……
Will Be The Beginning of True Justice and Mercy.

[Rev. John D. Shook]

Yehudah,
May HaShem bless you. You put your finger on the crux of the problem.

[R. Opperman]

Now I have to ask: Who is copying whom? The U.S. media has been doing this for decades. Has Israel just now caught up? It seems to me that Israel has decided to imitate the U.S., but only the negative aspects of the "American way." I liked it better when the U.S. was following the concepts on which the Torah is based instead the other way around.

[Boruch N. Hoffinger]

No Torah, no derech eretz!