Who Needs The Israel Broadcasting Authority?

This morning on Israeli Public Radio, the news program Hakol Diburim  (All Talk) stopped after one hour because of an emergency meeting. The journalists are protesting against the imminent threat to close IBA and fire many of its employees.

As can be seen from the following essay, written at the time when the unfortunate decision to dismantle IBA was made, I am not  a detached observer. However, like many other Israelis, I rely on Israeli public radio and television, and cannot imagine my mornings without Reshet Bet.

We were not brought up to be leaders. My father, Jakob Witzthum, an individualist, preferred to observe life and not to take an active part, and my diligent and shy mother worked mainly behind the scenes. My brother and I learnt from both of them: we grew up knowing who we were but, in contrast to Dale Carnegie, we never tried to  influence people.

Please keep reading in the Times Of Israel

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/who-needs-the-israel-broadcasting-authority/

A Good Memory Is Often A Curse

Recently in a meeting of my women’s group we discussed the question: who do we choose not to forgive, and why?  Somehow it feels like an appropriate topic for a post as today is the Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel.

The radio and television broadcast only Holocaust related stories of war, death and courage and soon at the sound of the siren we will stop everything and stand up for 2 minutes respecting those who perished.

During our discussion one of the women tried to bring up the Holocaust as an example. However, at that moment we all subscribed to the view of the historian Saul Friedlander, who regards the Holocaust as a momentous event outside history, and flatly refused to talk about it. We limited the scope to our ability to forgive those who have wronged us in a (relatively) small way. Ruining the evening with the Holocaust was out of the question.

Not surprisingly I noticed that it was harder for me to forgive those who have wronged members of my immediate family. It was especially true at times when they were vulnerable: a mother who yelled at my young daughter, a cousin who was rude to my aging father. And of course, the period when my husband Tzvi was terminally ill. I still remember a close friend who failed to come and see him even though he had been told about the severity of Tzvi's condition.

I used to believe that I was the kind of person who was quick to forgive, but sadly it is not always the case. In the first year after Tzvi died I too felt vulnerable, and to this day I remember, and find it difficult to forgive, those family members or (former) friends who did not stand by me at that difficult time. A good memory is often a curse, but it is also a blessing as it enables me not to forget those who were there.

I once read with my students an article about the different ways of dealing with conflicts. The writer claimed that in some cases, with people outside our immediate circle, a physical or emotional withdrawal is a good solution. And this is what I chose to do, I am not angry or hurt any more, but on the other hand, those people are no longer part of my life.

What I described above, about my responses to life-size grievances and the choices I made, has no connection to the Holocaust. However when it comes to the Holocaust I do not have the freedom to withdraw and stay away, and that memory remains a permanent fixture in my immediate circle, almost like family.

The Nazis killed my grandparents and one uncle, my other uncle had gone through the horrors of the death camps and survived. That uncle stayed in Germany after the war and until he died at the age of 88. He remembered the Holocaust when he was awake and didn't forget it when he was asleep.

So I, the grandaughter and the niece, have to keep that memory alive.

P.S I also remeber today the brave people who risked their lives to help the Jews:

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

We were not brought up to be leaders. My father, the individualist, preferred to observe life and not to take an active part, and my diligent and shy mother worked mainly behind the scenes. My brother and I learnt from both of them: we grew up knowing who we were but, in contrast to Dale Carnegie, we never tried to  influence people

My brother became a journalist, and has been working, mainly, in Israeli Public Television, since the 1970s. He is well respected (and well liked), and has the reputation of a serious journalist. He even got the most prestigious journalism award in Israel The Sokolov Award. But throughout the years when his peers  assumed management positions, my brother preferred to remain a journalist. Instead, he used his time to study the field and became an expert. He created and developed new news programs, wrote articles and did special projects. He even wrote a book Breaking News – Television News In Hard Times,  which is the  reference book on the subject and is a required reading in communication courses at colleges and universities.

In the last few months the Israeli government has started taking steps towards the termination of public television and radio under the pretext of efficiency. In Israel each household, which owns a television set, has to pay an annual tax of about 100$ which goes towrd public broadcast. Our prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken it upon himself to save the Israelis this enormous sum-- the equivalent of about 20 portions falafel in pita (the national food in Israel which is sold on the street).

In the US people do not pay special tax for public broadcasting (PBS), and several times a year, live on the air, each public station has to beg for money from its faithful audience. I feel that this type of arrangement compromises the work of the journalists who find themselves in the role of fundraisers. Besides, those tedious campaigns come instead of the regular programing.

Public broadcasting, which started in Great Britain, could be found in all democratic countries. It is funded by tax money, and is accountable only to the public. We should not expect to get it for free, if the public does not pay it means that someone else does. We do not wish to be dependent of the arbitrary interests of politicians and millionaires. In Dallas TX, for example, as a means of enticing people to donate money, the local public radio station had to find sponsors who donated money to give as awards to the listeners. We had several great breakfasts at Le Madeleine -- a French café I n Dallas as a reward for our contribution.

In Israel, until now public stations did not have to beg for money, my brother was able to just be a journalist. Sadly desperate times call for desperate measures, Israel Broadcast Authority (with its audience) is fighting for its survival. Last week I was surprised to see my brother taking his gloves off at an interview on commercial channel where he advocated public broadcasting. It transpired that the interviewer and the other journalists in the studio all got all their training in public television.

They eventually moved on,  but my brother who is going to be 67 next January stayed. He never left because he has always believed in public television, and  also because it is the natural venue for  his type of  more serious journalism.

It  will be a very sad day for Israel,  and for our democracy and culture if public broadcasting ceases to exist.