Local Arabic Media

Ilams work with the Arabic Media includes lobbying for media rights of Arab journalists within their media institutions and before the Israeli authorities. In addition, following the development of the code of ethics in 2007, The Media Charter, Ilam followed with monitoring of the Arabic media and engaging journalists in order to build a culture for ethical journalistic practice among Palestinian journalists in Israel. We have also produced a number of documentaries to build local Arab production capacity and inform diverse audiences on Palestinians in Israel.

Qualitative Monitoring of the Arabic Media

On August 26 2008, I’lam launched its ‘Arabic Media Monitoring’ project with the release of the project’s first monitoring report on the Arabic media in Israel. This first report contained extracts of 16 violations of the ethical and professional codes, as found in I’lam’s ‘Media Charter’, in a number of Arabic newspapers and online news websites.

This Arabic Media Monitoring project builds on the success of ‘The Media Charter’, the code of ethics I’lam developed for the Arabic media and which was released in 2008.

In line with this project, a Steering Committee will be developed to monitor and advise the project and a supplement will be developed in each report that contains reactions to the preceding report. Some reports will concentrate on specific topics – for example, in a report to concentrate on racism, or on portrayals of women, and not on multiple categories every week. Letters will also be directed to editors to ask them for their opinions and reactions. A meeting will be scheduled every month with journalists after every six reports to discuss the project’s development and impact.

There are two reasons behind this monitoring of the Arabic media:
1) Prior to this project, I’lam focused on monitoring the Hebrew media and their coverage of Palestinians. This project signals a new attempt on the part of I’lam to focus constructive criticism towards our own Arabic media.
2) To shed light on ethical and professional violations by our own Arabic media so as to stress and encourage the imperatives of responsibility and professionalism in Arabic journalistic practice.

This monitoring project will produce 12 reports a year, one every month. The reports will monitor some of the following categories of violations:

1) Non-factual News
These include news articles with absolutely no factual basis. See Articles 1, 3 and 5 of the Media Charter.

2) Inaccurate Information
These are articles that contain various forms of inaccuracy. For example in referring to Jerusalem, it would be inaccurate to not reference the fact that East Jerusalem is recognised internationally as being occupied. See Articles 1, 3 and 5 of the Media Charter.

3) Plagiarism
This is a violation of the ethical and professional practice of referencing the original creator or source of a news piece or photograph. See Article 15 of the Media Charter.

4) News without News Value
This violation refers to those articles that shouldn’t be in the newspaper because they simply have no news value and are plain irrelevant. See Article 10 of the Media Charter.

5) Unprofessional Pictures
The publication of this violation is so that newspaper owners recognise photography as an expertise. Therefore, not anybody in a newspaper house takes photographs for the paper, and understanding this has the added value of building a more professional news outlet. See Article 17 of the Media Charter.

6) Inaccurate Expressions and Language
These encompass articles written with wrong expressions and an incorrect use of the Arabic language. See Articles 1, 3 and 5 of the Media Charter.

7) Readers Comments and Feedback on News Websites
Although freedom of expression imposes the duty to publish public comments to articles, journalistic professionalism restricts readers’ comments of a certain type. I’lam monitors responses of the public on news websites that include sexist and chauvinistic comments, as well as comments with a racist tint that promote sectarianism and reinforce stereotypes and prejudice, as this is a violation of freedom of expression in that it inflicts personal harm or is in essence a discriminatory statement. See Article 7 of the Media Charter.

8) Propaganda
The lack of critical reporting about political activists and political parties; therefore, this includes reporting claims by politicians about their achievements by relying solely on their press releases, rather than referring to other sources of information for a real investigation of the issue. Such reporting also tends to detract from the real story or issue at hand and instead focuses squarely on the politicians. See Articles 1, 3, 5 and 12 of the Media Charter.

9) Unverified Information
These are articles that have not verified their facts with multiple sources. In fact, there is a tendency to allow anyone a platform to make statements which are then published, without verifying first the accuracy of those statements. See Articles 1, 3 and 5 of the Media Charter.

For upcoming reports, there is a possibility that further categories will be incorporated into the analysis. In every monitoring edition there are about 6-7 categories that are utilized.

We have sent the Arabic media monitoring reports to the entire electronic mailing list of I’lam, which include journalists, editors, media graduates, and media researchers. After sending it, until now, we have received scores of phone calls, most of them supportive of our work. Some were not satisfied about this new practice of internal criticism. Here we must mention that we have deleted the name of the newspaper and journalist so as not to shift focus onto individual newspaper houses or journalists, but to constructively criticize these instances of reporting that violate professional and ethical journalistic practice.

Although we do not expect particularly wide-ranging media coverage of this specific project, one hour of a Radio Shams programme was dedicated to the project’s initial report, and accordingly we received extensive exposure for this project.

As a way of developing this report, we have contacted journalists, who are also interested in bringing forth their own works and their colleagues works for inclusion in the monitoring report. Therefore I’lam is not the only source in the production of the report. We believe that after 4 reports, that the community itself, among them activists and various civil society members, will be sources for the monitoring report. This is important because it allows the community to build a culture of constructive and legitimate criticism of the media.

Click on the following link to download Monitoring Report 5 (Arabic).

Monthly Quantitative Monitoring of the Arabic Media

The quantitative reporting started on September 10 2008, looking at the 3 most popular commercial newspapers (Kul al-Arab, Al-Sunnara, Panorama). On September 26, another 3 commercial newspapers (Arab al-Dakhil, Hadith Al-Nass, El-3enwan Il-Raesi), not as popular, but dealing with more serious matter were monitored for the monthly report.

Accordingly, we now monitor six newspapers every month. Unlike the qualitative monitoring project which focuses on violations to professional and ethical codes of the media, the quantitative monitoring project takes a critical look at the media’s agenda, monitoring how much ‘infotainment’ makes up the newspaper, how much hard news versus soft news is present, and how many articles depend on passive coverage (dependant exclusively on press releases from authorities) as opposed to active coverage. Our initial data shows that 20 out of 50 news pieces, or 40% of articles, of the most popular newspapers are soft news focused.

This is a concern because it signifies a trend of the Arabic media to avoid pressing social and political phenomena, and in its place to report on trivial events.

I’lam also monitors Radio Shams’ morning news from 8-9am according to the same criteria. Currently, in the hourly news segment, 25 minutes is dedicated to commercials and music. This monitoring will be part of the monthly quantitative report.

Defending the Rights of Palestinian Journalists from Violations by the Israeli Authorities

A few examples of lobbying efforts on individual cases over 2007-2008:

On December 2007, I’lam sent a letter to MK Sheli Yahemovish, who heads the journalism and freedom of speech committee in the Knesset, regarding the immunity of journalist sources. As a result of this letter, discussion was raised among the internal affairs committee in the Knesset about Israeli police spying on Arab citizens and journalists for security reasons, even if such actions are forbidden under Israeli law. The police spokesperson admitted that 1,500 citizens and one journalist have been spied on, a serious breach to the right to privacy of journalists and citizens and a violation of the rights of Arab journalists to carry out their investigations without interference or threats to their safety.

On 3 March 2008, I’lam sent a letter to the Israeli army spokesperson and the Israeli Press Council (IPC) in order to stop the harassment by the army of Arab journalists from Al Jazeera and Abu Dhabi news networks who were gathered in a group and shooting close to each other in Gaza. Despite the fact that it was obvious that they were a team of journalists working, the army nevertheless targeted them.

In April 2008, I’lam sent a letter to the Military Advocate General of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) requesting an investigation into the killing of Fadel Shanaa, a journalist from Reuters. The army agreed to carry out an investigation, which is still pending.

In March 2008, I’lam sent a letter addressed to both the Israeli Press Council and the Ombudsman of the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA) following the Israeli government’s decision to boycott the Qatari television network Al-Jazeera.

On 3 May 2008 -the Freedom of Expression Day- I’lam released an opinion paper presenting the Israeli situation in terms of the freedom of the press. The editorial piece investigated the number of journalists facing troubles while carrying out their work in Israel, as well as depicting the way Israelis deal with Arab Palestinian journalists in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

May 2008 witnessed the most violent behavior in recent memory on account of the Israeli police toward Arab journalists. The intentional targeting of Arab and foreign journalists while they were covering the Israeli police’s violence towards demonstrators during the 60 years Nakba commemoration march in Safuriyya is a clear indication of the delegitimation and the contempt of the Israeli police for the rights of Arab journalists and the right to freedom of expression and information. I’lam has sent a position paper to Israeli and international NGOs and press agencies such as IFEX, IFJ, BBC, Reuters and others. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel is currently dealing with the police concerning an investigation on the events. I'lam has also been responsible to invite Jewish journalists to a press conference organized by the Higher Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens on account of the Israeli police’s violent actions towards Palestinian demonstrators.

On June 17 2008, a meeting was held with Giora Rosen, the Second Television and Radio Authority's ombudsman at I’lam’s office. Present at the meeting was General Director, Haneen Zoubi and Board Member, Sonia Boulos. The focus of the meeting was to inform Giora Rosen of the followup I’lam did in the aftermath of the Channel 2 journalist’s incitement and cursing of Arab MK Jamal Zahalka, without MK Zahalka being present on the program and having the right to respond.

In August 2008, I’lam released a two page legal directive to Arab journalists on how to deal with the Shabak (Israel’s General Security Services or Shin Bet) investigations that have been ongoing since 2007. I’lam’s legal directive called for 14 specific undertakings on the part of journalists to respond to the investigations. The directive was sent to all Arab journalists in Israel. They were also published in about half of the newspapers and online websites in the Arabic media. I’lam has met with a number of human rights lawyers and has organised workshops for Arab journalists, encompassing four meetings, on how to deal with these investigations. Radio Shams has publicized the legal directive to the community at large.

Defending and Lobbying for Arab Journalists' Rights within their Media Institutions

For the first time in its history, I’lam took the important step to monitor Arab journalists’ socio-economic and labour rights within their own media institutions.

From June 2008, Kholod Masalha, Coordinator of the Media Rights programme, started to gather information on Arab journalists regarding their:
- Social rights and professional conditions at workplaces
- Freedom of expression and professional rights.

With the successful development of The Media Charter, the first code of ethics for the Arabic media, Arab journalists in Israel now have, for the first time since 1948, their own ethical code to govern their working practices.

This development is a crucial step towards the establishment and instilling of journalistic values and standards. This vast and impressive achievement in the Arabic media landscape became a possibility due to the intellectual exertion and deep commitment of a committee of ten Arab editors and senior journalists that worked extensively over the length of a year.

In contrast to their colleagues in the Arab world, since 1948, Arab journalists in Israel have lacked professional and ethical regulatory bodies as a reference for their own work.  The need for such a reference point was intensified by the fact that they lived in almost total disconnection to their common cultural surrounding – the Arab world. Here are one million Arab Palestinians living with hardly any cultural contact with 100 million Arabs residing on their borders, almost no exchange of books and literature, no interaction between university students, practically no possibility in participating in shared cultural events, very little exchange of newspapers or media, little cooperation in the artistic sphere - a total barrier to normal human cultural development.

When talking about the Arab media in Israel today, it can be described more as a commercial commodity than as a political and cultural empowerment tool. The total separation from the rich culture of the Arab world from one side, and the non-existence of fair professional relations with the Israeli media from the other side, has had far reaching consequences. 

The starting point for building a code of ethics for self-regulation for journalists was one in which there was a total absence of awareness of ethical regulations in the work of Arab journalists. Nevertheless, Arab journalists took responsibility for the development of such a code, thus creating a reference point which would influence and give direction to journalists in their daily work as well as to the society and the way they consume media. This important change in the relation between media and media consumers is a crucial one as Arab civil society will now have the tools to address the media and hold it accountable. Such development will make local Arabic media more credible and professional.

The most important impact of The Media Charter is perhaps its ability to encourage ‘media criticism’, that is it creates the possibility for people to criticize the media and to coerce it to abide to commonly-agreed upon ethical and professional standards of journalism.

After the Steering Committee of the code agreed on the final version of the code on July 2 2007, it was presented to the members of the Forum of Journalists, who formally endorsed the code with several reservations which were presented to the Steering Committee. On 22 August 2007 the final version of the code of ethics was released to the public. As of date, 100 journalists have signed The Media Charter.

The Media Charter is being used as a basis for the monitoring of the Arabic media. The code’s principles are drawn upon in the writing up of every report produced in the qualitative and quantitative monitoring projects, and specifically in the Fortnight Qualitative Monitoring of the Arabic Media (see below), the code forms the very basis against which the Arabic media is analysed.

Click on the following links to download The Media Charter in Arabic and English.