“What Is Wrong Cannot Be Made Right”? Why Has Media Reform Been Sidelined in the Debate Over “Social Justice” in Israel?

Abstract

When hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in the summer of 2011, protesting the high cost of living and demanding “social justice,” the ills of the media system including its concentration, the growing digital divide, and the implosion of public broadcasting were not made part of the social movement's agenda. This study employs a justice-based theory for media, analyzing three types of “products” of the social movement: the unionization of media workers, the establishment of alternative media, and the reports recommending regulatory/institutional reform. We attempt to understand why media reform, an essential element without which social justice cannot be fully achieved, has been sidelined in the debate over the ways to achieve “social justice” in Israel.

Keywords:

• Social Media
• Social Movements
• Israel
• Media Reform

Notes

[1] Ecclesiastes 1:15.

[2] This study has been supported by a Career Integration Grant awarded by the Marie Curie FP7 program of the European Union and by the I-CORE Program of the Planning and Budgeting Committee and the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 1716/12). Both authors contributed equally to this study.

[3] The site (http://j14.org.il/polimap/) does not exist anymore.

[4] The minutes of the internal debates of the committee were sealed until the Supreme Court forced the government to uncover them in March 2013.

[5] The committee's letter of appointment can be accessed at: http://hidavrut.gov.il/content/4244

[6] The site does not exist anymore.

[7] A stereotypically low-income city.

[8] In such countries as Estonia (Woodward, 2003) Finland (Riesinger, 2009); France (London Times, 2009); Greece (Constitution of Greece, 2009); and Spain (Reuters, 2009).

[9] All party platforms were accessed online during the elections and are on file with authors.