Corporation, corporation, corporation. And what else?

April 7, 2017   

1. What's more annoying than your child telling you over and over again during your free time, "I'm bored"? - It's the neighbor's child telling you, "I'm bored." That's exactly why, when our daughter asked permission to have a neighborhood Passover camp at our house, we told her no. True, dust is not leaven and children are not the Passover sacrifice, but on the eve of the holiday, who needs more goats, sorry, children, at home. 2. I'll come back to the summer camp issue, but wait, I've already written four lines in the column without mentioning the corporation. As we know, anyone who didn't say these three things has failed in their duty: the corporation, the corporation, the corporation. It's amazing that after all the words that have been written and said in recent weeks about the corporation saga, no one has written about the point I want to raise here. In my opinion, it's the central axis of the story. Everyone has talked, and rightly so, about Netanyahu's obsession with the media. That's truly noteworthy. After all, you're the prime minister. You won thirty seats in the last elections. So what are you doing? And if you're doing it, why such a lack of class? In my opinion, Netanyahu's open dealings with the corporation were no less embarrassing than his hidden dealings with Noni Mozes. Why destroy a media outlet that was supposed to balance the picture a little? I was also at the corporation in meetings and discussions. Yes, they offered me to join too. And from my superficial acquaintance with its leaders, it seems to me that they really tried to create something a little different in the Israeli media, not another Ashkenazi-secular-leftist stronghold. They weren't just looking for fig leaves. But that's not the story. Okay, we get it. Netanyahu has an obsession with the media. But why isn't anyone talking about the media's obsession with the media? For several weeks now, the media has been busying itself. Day after day, the main headline in the media is the media. I'm not just talking about items whose specific subject is Netanyahu, Kahlon and the corporation, but in general, recently, in every interview with someone, no matter what, he will always be obliged at some point to give an account of his position in relation to the corporation. A kind of identical question (perhaps more accurately: the Prime Minister's question) that is impossible without. Everyone has to stand up and declare that we are Turkey, or Iran, and that there is no free media here. Well, there is such a free media here that 24 hours a day it declares that it is not free. And why? Because the media – and sorry for the generalization, there are clearly exceptions – does not really live reality. It lives itself. Its bubble. And what is the central and exclusive issue now in its bubble? The corporation. If so, it is clear that this is what needs to be talked about and reported on non-stop. Why don’t we ask our interviewees, for example, how they are coping with this great holiday of Passover? Both the peak of stress and suddenly all the children at home. After all, this keeps the listeners/viewers/readers busy a thousand times more than any corporation. So it is, that there in the media do not understand what is so simple for all of us. That is why they bring up MK David Bitan for another interview, who is already getting bored of himself. This uniform line that we have been hearing and reading for years - regarding the High Court of Justice, regarding Judaism, regarding disengagement, regarding every issue - from all those who suddenly talk about freedom of expression, is not some agenda dictated from above. It just happens naturally. There is no need for anyone to direct everyone in a certain direction. Is there anyone who outlines the agenda of the Hasidic Sanz magazine? Someone who says every week to the editors and reporters: ”Guys, bring me material on Sanz“? Of course not. Simply put, all the editors and reporters are Hasidic Sanz, so the newspaper is Sanz. The same is true in the media. So is it any wonder that none of the common people were really shocked when Netanyahu closed the Broadcasting Authority in favor of the corporation? Is it any wonder that none of the common people were really shocked when Netanyahu closed the corporation in favor of the Broadcasting Authority? 3. But there are, as mentioned, also exceptions. Here is one that stood out in recent days. Twice, even. First of all, full disclosure: the chances of you hearing good words from me about a religious affairs reporter are slim to none. Not that there aren't good people in this position. There are, and I know a few personally. But this position is not good. The environmental affairs reporter is supposed to cover the field out of concern and sympathy for the environment. The health affairs reporter is supposed to cover the field out of concern for the health system. Of course, there are pros and cons, the newspaper is not a PR office, but usually the reporter gets you excited about his field, from economics to sports. A reporter on religious affairs, on the other hand, is usually required to tell what's wrong with the Dossim. Yes, I know, once a year there will be an article about how they donate kidneys all day long, great, but usually Judaism will always be presented as a problem, not a solution. Because deep down, much more than the leftist media (and it is leftist), it is secular. The truth is that it's a bit hard for me to judge all the reporters on what's-bad-about-the-Haredi, because who provides them with all the juiciest and most up-to-date garbage? People from within the sector. As Jackie Levy said years ago? There are reporters on Haredi affairs, and there are Haredi on reporters. And that was before the wonderful boom of the world of Hareidi news and websites. After all, what is the source of a dramatic percentage of the news about convoluted disputes, bizarre halachic rulings, and generally disgusting people? Haredi? The Haredi websites. Everything is there, reach out and touch it. So what do we want from reporters in the general media? That they not join in the ratings celebration? That they have the courage to go against the grain and talk with a twinkle in their eyes about Shabbat and Torah, just like their colleagues talk about the World Cup and the Olympics? 4. But Yehuda Schlesinger, the ultra-Orthodox correspondent for Israel Hayom, is an exception. I really don't follow all of his journalistic work, and maybe this very week he will suddenly publish a ten-page article under the title "Exclusive: Dov Halbertal talks about everything," but two of his articles in recent days have proven that it is possible to do otherwise. In a week when the entire media was raving about Rabbi Levinstein's statements, long after he had already apologized for his style, both in an interview and in a letter to Ali graduates, Schlesinger simply checked what was happening on the ground and came back with a shocking document. No less. Beyond the content of the article, what is noteworthy is the general tone, the headlines, the editing. Usually in reports of this kind, everything is full of mockery and contempt. A kind of tone that presents the conservative side, the one that, on the whole, wants the IDF to continue to conduct itself exactly as it has in recent decades – as dark and primitive. This article was truly innovative: it brought only testimonies from fighters, soldiers, and officers who have to deal with the impossible reality of the control of the IDF by fanatical feminism. Without expressing a position. The public will read and judge. I don’t remember such a journalistic precedent. The second report also dealt with the IDF, but from a completely different angle: a short piece of news with details about the violent demonstrations of recent days against conscription. His article about roadblocks in Jerusalem and Highway 4 ended with the following words: ‘It should be noted that these protesters do not belong to the Haredi mainstream, but are a handful of people from the Jerusalem faction who are trying to differentiate themselves from the mainstream and are provoking anger mainly from the Haredi public, which is also hurt by the demonstrations taking place in Haredi neighborhoods and is also damaged in its image when the Israeli public does not distinguish between the different streams.’ Shkoih, Yehuda. I never thought that reports about the breaching of all limits in the IDF and violent demonstrations by Haredis would bring me such satisfaction. 5. Well, I promised to go back to the Passover camp, but look what happened to me: I, too, was involved in the media instead of life itself. The truth is that there isn't much room left, so I'll say it briefly: In the end, we couldn't stand the girl's pressure, and despite all our misgivings, we allowed her to hold a camp for the neighbors' children in our house. And listen, it seems to me that I've landed on an educational startup. The best way to give your children interest and meaning in their free time (and probably in life in general) is to let them give interest and meaning to the free time (and probably in life in general) of other children. Even if that leaves crumbs and a little gouache. I saw before my eyes how instead of wasting your free time, you can fill it with action, and how, when you're responsible for someone else, you yourself improve and grow. She hung up ads and made games, called mothers and collected payments, and even though it was free time - she actually learned a lot. I learned something too: You don't have a free person except the one who takes responsibility. • The column is published in the newspaper 'Besheva''