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December 20, 2002
Israel's "salad bowl" media
BGU prof. explains why the government's melting pot strategy failed.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
Since every political group is represented by a different radio
or television station, it's important not to put too much stock
in what the media in Israel reports when it comes to the current
intifada, according to Dov Shinar, a renowned chair and professor
in the department of communication studies at Ben-Gurion University.
Shinar shared his thoughts as part of a presentation called Media
and Society in Israel – Issues and Dilemmas to an audience
of more than 75 people at Beth Israel Synagogue Dec. 10.
Following a buffet-style dinner, Shinar opened his presentation
by giving the audience what he called a peep into some keyholes
of the history of Israeli media.
He explained how, in the 1960s, through the Israel Broadcasting
Authority (IBA), which he compared to Canada's CBC, the government
tried to create a melting pot in the media based on the Zionist
feeling that was so strong when Israel first gained statehood.
However, immigration and changes in political ideology caused a
failure of the public melting pot strategy. That breakdown eventually
led to the current private and profit-oriented media in Israel –
what Shinar called a "salad bowl," where each item is
distinctly different.
"Pragmatic political Zionism gave way to ideologies like the
Messianic Zionism of the settlers, to non-Zionist movements like
Aguda and Shas, and to the emergence of a left-wing post-Zionism,"
he explained. "Along the way, bitter enmities built up, a prime
minister was assassinated and ideological positions became dangerously
polarized, unleashing social pressures and threats of disintegration.
They reflect in the media like most other institutions in Israeli
society."
At the conclusion of his presentation, Shinar took questions from
the audience, which focussed on his impression of how the Israeli
media and North American media are covering the current crisis.
When asked if the there should be concerns in Israel about the media
converting people's political opinions, Shinar said that because
each segment of Israeli society broadcasts its own truth, there
is very little credibility in the Israeli media.
"It's very difficult to talk about conversion or even persuasion
in such a situation because, today, the most radio and television
can give you is [their own] picture of reality and they are not
really in the job of persuading people," he said.
Shinar was also asked how the people of Israel felt about CNN and
other world media who report with what many feel is an anti-Israel
bias. He answered that, because Israel is a democratic society,
most Israelis know they have to put up with it.
"We have a lot of blunders and the world media are waiting
for that," he said. "But I think that the population in
Israel is not that affected by this picture.
"The people who are really enduring the intifada over there
are much more concerned about exploding busses than about CNN,"
he continued. "It is a problem and Israel has to put up with
it because closing the channels to the world media never was advantageous
to Israel."
Shinar received his PhD in communications from the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem in 1978 and is the author of many books and articles.
Among other academic accomplishments, he was the founding dean of
the New School of Media Studies in Tel-Aviv and has also served
as the head of the department of communication studies at Concordia
University in Montreal. Shinar is currently on sabbatical in Vancouver
as a visiting scholar at the Emily Carr Institute for Art and Design.
The Dec. 10 event was sponsored by the Vancouver branch of the Canadian
Association of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beth Israel Synagogue
and the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.
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