IMW Lada'at - Israel's Media Watch update report 20

Israel's Media Watch (IMW) Update Report - #20,
September 28, 1999

1. IMW has sent a sharp letter to the State Prosecutor, Edna Arbel, protesting the fact that IMW's appeal against the closing of the file on TV reporter Eitan Oren has been unanswered since May 16, 1999.
Two days before the appeal, IMW had received the decision of Moshe Shiloh, from the Prosecutor's Office, to close the file on suspicion of staging a "swearing-in ceremony" of a right-wing underground group.
IMW filed a criminal complaint at the time, November 1995, when it became apparent that the leader of the group was a General Security Services (GSS) agent provocateur. The original police investigation was begun on the recommendation of the former State Attorney, Michael Ben-Yair.
IMW's appeal of last May included statements by none other than the former president of the Supreme Court, the former State Attorney and the current head of the GSS, all indicating that the film clip was staged. IMW queried that if this was overt evidence, the covert evidence should surely be extensive.
The current IMW letter raised the possibility that the State Prosecutor's Office could be interested in having the limitations run out on the case.

2. Reacting to reports that the IBA is at least 20 million NIS in the red and may reach financial paralysis soon, IMW reminded the media reporters that for the past three years, IMW has been warning about financial irresponsibilities and poor administrative
practices.
No CPA report, information withheld and other irregularities, IMW stated in a press release, all point to a failing on behalf of the IBA so-called professional echelon.
There may be no recourse but to turn to the State Comptrollers Office of even the courts.

2. In a recent study by IMW, the two main morning radio interview programs on Kol Yisrael were shown to be heavily biased against women, right wing politicians and the opposition in general. The two radio programs were hosted by Daliah Ya'iri ("Another Matter", 8-10AM) and by Shelly Yechimovicz ("All Talk", 10AM-12PM)
broadcast over Kol Yisrael's Second Programme

In the first instance, 15% of those interviewed by Ya'iri were women
whereas 27.5% of those interviewed by Yechimovicz were female.

In the political sphere, the data was as follows:

	Ya'iri	Yechimovicz
of all interviewed	34% Left	31% Left
	9.5% Right	12.5% Right
	56.5% Neutral	55.5% Neutral

	Ya'iri	Yechimovicz
MKs only	87% Coalition	77.5% Coalition
	13% Opposition	22.5% Opposition

(note: opposition includes Arab and Communist MKs)

3. In another study, Moshe Negbi proved during August 1999 to be an ubiquitous commentator on legal events in contrast to the Ethics Code of the IBA which obligates variety in the selection of commentators. Given the fact that Negbi expresses in his Ma'ariv newspaper column strident left-of-center views, IMW has protested his almost exclusive appearances on the public radio service.

4. IMW's complaint against a sexist commercial for a Channel Two series was backed by Israel's Women's Network which agreed with our observation that the commercial was degrading, displayed approval of threatening and abusive behavior towards women and was liable to be copied by youngsters.

5. Other recent complaints that IMW has made include:

- The left-wing bias on the radio's satire column on Friday afternoons. It has been found that Shlomo Nitzan, who hosts the column these past four years, consistently expresses far left opinions. The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) is obliged to maintain balance in political viewpoints. IMW has demanded that pluralism of opinion be fundamental to the IBA.

- Israel Army Radio (Galatz) interviewers called up a person without informing him that he was being broadcast live. In the specific case, the person being interviewed placed the phone down for a minute to speak with another person thus allowing the public to eavesdrop on a personal conversation.

- IMW protested the showing by Channel Two of the American sitcom, "Spin City", at 3PM. The show, set in the New York Mayor's office, highlights explicit sexual double entendres, a black homosexual, a sexually frustrated bachelor and a host of other adult situations, dialogue and characters.

- IMW called the attention of the Galatz Army Radio commander to the fact that the wife of Tourism Minister Avigdor Lipkin-Shachak, Mrs. Tali Lipkin-Shachak, was permitted to host a political interview show. IMW considers the situation to be unethical and one that would present a possibility of a clash of professional interests.

- Following the appointment of Advocate Dov Weissglass as counsel to the former Director-General of the Prime Minister's office, Moshe Leon, in wake of the Netanyahu - Amadi Affair, IMW demanded that Weissglass refrain from acting as guest interviewer on the Daliah Ya'iri political interview show on Kol Yisrael.

Join & Support IMW's activities to assure fair, reliable and pluralistic broadcasting on Israel's public electronic media:
POB 6023 Jerusalem 91060 - Tel: 02-6236425 Fax: 02-6236426
E-mail: isrmedia@netvision.net.il

Israel's Media Watch is a non-partisan civic advocacy group - IMW is a registered non-profit organization whose major aim is assuring the ethical and fair conduct of the Israeli media.