Opinion
The problem with our media
Hanoch Daum
Published: 24.12.11, 14:00
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24 Talkbacks for this article
1. Now imagine if there was peace. Actual peace.
Henry from New York ,   USA   (12.24.11)
What would happen to the Israeli news outlets if they didn't have an Israeli-Palestinian conflict to report on?
2. media
colin   (12.24.11)
The media hoping on too many outlets. They cannot keep pace to the lies,untruths and falsehoods that the Israeli reporters report.
3. It's not rocket science:the dizzying bombardment is meant
tom ,   tel aviv   (12.24.11)
to instill feeling of utter chaos due to.... yes you've guessed it: BIBI! The lunatic Left &their enablers in the media are in for a fight of (for)their lives, so they try to paint gloom& doom over our heads. Sorry, we aren't buing....
4. who is hopping ?
Michael ,   Haifa   (12.24.11)
It is not the media that is hopping from issue to issue, but rather the crazy State of Israel under its present leadership. The media merely reflect reality.
5. IN USA ITS CALLED : 24 HOUR NEWS CYCLE
Zimbi ,   NJUSA   (12.24.11)
6. @Henry- the conflict is not the bulk of the news
Israeli   (12.24.11)
unlike the translated Israeli press (like this site), the Israeli press is less absorbed with the conflict with Palestinians or other countries around. Those are the news items that interest foreigners so that is what they translate. Israelis however get much more internal Israeli news (politics, corruption, social issues, etc.). Most Israelis are uninterested in the conflict that goes on (which is a big part of the problem).
7. Media in general
solomon ,   bklyn   (12.24.11)
The fault is not with the media, it is with us. Israeli media is no different from that in most countries; people’s attention spans are short. The media can focus on an issue for a longer time, but people will begin to look for new news.
8. Author should re-read Orwell's 1984
Sam   (12.24.11)
The people he was parodying are the same mindset as our media elitist class. They don't like democracy that doesn't agree with them
9. Daum is too soft - media has gone berserk
Brian Cohen ,   Judean Peoples Front   (12.24.11)
The media seized a few incidents in a fringe community in Israel (ultra ultra-orthodox) and got some vote-hungry politicians to say absolutely ludicrous and downright stupid, let alone wrong, statements. Womens rights are not threatened in the slightest. The courts have solidly come out in favor of women. The president, the PM, the cabinet, the Knesset, and even both Chief Rabbis have stated repeatedly and firmly that they will protect womens rights. The media has blown it all out of proportion, and headline addicted foreign journalists seized on the fringe story to push the frenzy around the world. Nobody is shutting up the media (that is painfully obvious) or the opposition (also painfully obvious. Womens rights are solidly protected in Israel and are among the strongest in the entire world. Daum was too easy on the press - they are indeed mimicking FOX news, and that should cause us worry because that means they're dumbing us down as low as possible.
10. The with our media.....It stinks...........
Andrew Irons ,   TA Israel   (12.25.11)
11. Holy Land
Zivron   (12.25.11)
The Holy Land is overpopulated with gangsters and war criminals on both the arab and jewish side . In defence only the competent and compassionate ought serve as close to Purity of Arms of the Civilized Nations as practical. The others need be expelled .
12. Media lags people; not vice versa
Rika N ,   Toronto   (12.25.11)
Except for a few extremist type publications, most of the media has to - gasp - balance their books. If anything they are too cautious, too afraid of offending advertisers.
13. What's wrong with separating the sexes?
Steve   (12.25.11)
Observant Jews have been doing this for centuries. No? Jews are supposed to be gentlemen; not pigs. A gentleman opens the door for a lady. He stands up when a lady enters the room. That is what my parents taught me. Wouldn't a gentleman put a lady at the front of the bus? Would not a pig would put a lady in the back of the bus?
14. its the same wherever there is free press
zionist forever   (12.25.11)
Today we live in an era of 24 hour news and its headlines that sell. You got a sensational story that's going to grab the headlines and suddenly everybody wants in on it and the only thing different is what kind of spin do they put on it. In this case sadly everybody loves to hate the haredi and so a good story that's critical of them it's a gift. Nobody is interested in the fine detail like how many haredi are involved or whats their reason so no need for real investigative journalism just a great headline and rehash the same stuff and you got a new story. How many people seriously read a newspaper back-back including all the little stories you find tucked away in the middle and how many are interested in the headline? How many people buy a newspaper based on what one headline says rather than the headline of the paper next to it says? The tv operates in basically the same way, same rubbish different spin. Its not Israeli media its 24 hour news and finding a way to keep people interested.
15. MEDIA
Marianne ,   Ramat Hasharon   (12.25.11)
NEVER I WILL RETURN TO THE BACK OF THE BUS AND SPECIAAL NOT IF THE ORDER COMS FROM PARACIETEN THOSE PARACIETEN MAKE THE COUNTRY SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SURFE THE COUNTRY,GO TO THE ARMY,PAY TAX,WORK
16. destabilization
israel israeli ,   tel aviv   (12.25.11)
Apparently Daum doesn't want to spell it out. The press is doing everything it can to destabilize Netanyahu's government and fracture Israeli society.
17. The Problem with Our Media
Yoni ,   Shomron   (12.25.11)
The problem with our media is that they are leftists, and have a clear agenda: to establish a PLO state in Judea and Samaria. Period.
18. From the outside observers perspective
Yael Schlichting ,   Raubling - Germany   (12.25.11)
So I am not watching Israeli TV, nor am I listening Israeli radio broadcasts, but I am reading lots of international news. With this perspective I can say, that it's the press as well, which is jumping on everything, trying to hype it up to an issue. One problem are the categories used by Israeli press. Starting with politics, you may distinguish between abroad and Israel. The other issue is "Jewish world" or I would like to call it "Society". We see very clear, how hard different factions of the society are courting for their issues and views. Finally I only can say, that the Israeli society left it to the disposal of individual groups to say, what they think the Jewish state is about. Here I believe is the key to the most problems of the Israeli societies, Jewish, Muslim and Christian. And among the Jewish there are very much people who orientate themselves at the lifestyle of western, christian-occidental countries. Being torn between between existential issues like hate and war and the view at the US and some European countries, which are somewhat wealthier and without a care in the world, being trapped as minority of some 14 million people in a world of simple minds, who does not understand, what constitutes a peoples...... makes it really hard to develop enough self consciousnesses to distinguish significant from non-relevant issues. Furthermore it is important, that we carefully categorize our issues. Who cares, if a bicycle tilts over in Bejing???? Who cares, if it tilts over in Damascus??? Why is this damn Nasrallah able to capture the headlines again and again??? Whenever this fatso opens his stupid mouth, Israelis are informed and start discussing it. Whenever the ape from Tehran is farting, Israeli news inform the people and everybody is discussing it........ It would be enough to publish categorized tally sheets with Arab rants against Israel, the U.S. and Jews. It is not real work for a journalist to only report about an issue. "The ape said this", "The fatso said that"..... It is much more important that journalists bring light into the context of the issues and explain, how they are interlinked! The rants many people are documenting in their talkbacks are only reflecting the quality of the items, reported. To be honest, I could write even better rants than any of them, but I wont make anything better. I would like to depict the mechanics of unreflected and non-categorized news coverage: I understand it fairly good, that Noam Shalit was fighting for the freedom of his son. Whenever he hit the road, there was a news article in Israeli press. Whenever he waited in front of Netanyahu's house, there was news coverage. When he met Nicola Sarkozy there was news coverage....... Gradually it became an important issue. Whenever the negotiations between Israel and Hamas were stuck, I got the impression, Netanyahu was blamed for it. Finally there was a deal reached and then? Now Netanyahu suddenly was no longer blamed for failing to free Gilad Shalit, now he was blamed for the prisoners he exchanged for Gilad. Whatever Netanyahu did, it was subordinated to the louder rant! And the press shook hands with those who delivered the flashiest comments. We must not wonder, if our politicians sometimes just work on silencing the media in order to gain some free time for his actual work
19. RULES OF INCITEMENT
DAVID ,   JUDEA   (12.25.11)
When one reads some of these TB'ers like nbr 15 Marianne, it won't be long before someone is going to act violent towards the Haredi population. If this same type of inciting articles were to be written by a Nationalistic media outlet one can be rest assured that Ynet would scream and yell about Jewish terrorism and insist on legal action. While we are very close to some serious war with Iran and co, our media is focusing on stupid headlines and feeding and occupying us with crap.
20. funny thing about the news
nibor ,   israel   (12.25.11)
it changes daily
21. The media exist on blaring headlines.
bob kirk ,   orlando usa   (12.25.11)
22. Confession of a news junkie
Z Lando ,   Tekoa, Israel   (12.25.11)
I confess: I used to be a news junkie. I listened to the radio and watched TV news as much as I could. The solution: I do NOT listen to electronic media. I read news ONLY online, only what I want. I call on all Israelis to follow me. They lie. So why listen?
23. to 18
sa waria ,   jerusalem   (12.26.11)
Sir ...history is written after the events . the same about the jornalism nowadays it is not by specialists only it is by any one and sure he may be proficional more than jornalists specialy if he is from the local place .. so you can controle yourselfe but not the others ==who are the others ??they are me and you and evry one ..sure i write what i like to write but i read what you like to write ...it is all it is a system it is hard to change
24. #9. Israel should have a patriotic Fox News equivalent.
Chaim ,   Israel   (12.26.11)
#9 Brian. You make some good points. Why waste them on a gratuitous slam against America's patriotic Fox News? Israel should have a Fox News equivalent. It would be a major step towards addressing Israel's real media problem: a pronounced leftist bias. That is why so many media stories are slanted against Bibi, Likud and the values of most Israelis. It would be much more accurate to conclude the media is mimicking Haaretz and attempting to dumb us down to accept it's far left drivel.
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