Aug 9 2009
How did Israel stop being a free country (update)
On July 30th I published an investigation into a report made by Freedom House about the freedom of the press in Israel.
In response to this publication, Freedom House notified me that the report, sent to me by them on July 14th (to view it click here), was a draft report. They attached a new and revised report (to view it click here), which is somewhat shorter and has the following changes:
1. All references to self censorship by Israeli journalists were omitted.
2. The reference to media outlets, which during the Gaza conflict “fed popular sentiment and prioritized nationalistic themes” was omitted.
3. The story of RAM FM, “a pro-peace radio station” that was closed by the Israeli police, was omitted.
4. The reference to the Israeli government, who “ignored the High Court ruling”, was omitted.
In addition to these, many wordings were softened so as to be less aggressive towards the State of Israel.
Nonetheless, the score of Israel on the Freedom of the Press Index (31) and its definition (“partially free”) did not change.