The number of foreign journalists in Israel is shrinking. The Jerusalem Post discussed the trend with ABC News’ Simon McGregor-Wood and Government Press Office director Danny Seaman. Among the reasons noted:
• “Spectacular violence” has decreased dramatically. Thank goodness for that.
• News services are preoccupied with the presidential elections, the war in Iraq, and the Iranian threat. It’s good to see the MSM shining a spotlight on other areas of the world.
• Many newspapers are going through significant cutbacks across the board.
• News services rely more than ever on locally based journalists. That’s good because Israelis understand the country better and it means more jobs. The flip side is that coverage of the West Bank and Gaza depends on Palestinian journalists who are more vulnerable to media intimidation and often have their own agendas, as Dan Diker pointed out.
Whatever the reason, a smaller media corps could be good for Israel:
McGregor-Wood agreed that a decrease in foreign-credentialed journalists may be a boon for Israelis, who don’t appreciate being under a global media lens on a daily basis.
“I don’t know if the average ordinary Israeli likes living under the international media spotlight,” he said.
The average Israeli certainly doesn’t. We argued in the past that The Over-Reporting of Israel distorts Mideast realities, and leads to excessive scrutiny that no other country is forced to confront.
But as the number of foreign reporters in Israel continues to shrink, so does the diversity of views among the media corps. The first draft of history is being written by a smaller, more concentrated group of journalists more susceptible to media groupthink. What are the implications of that?
