Good news: the Carmel Newsreels and their place in the emerging Israeli language media

Abstract

The Carmel Newsreels were screened in cinemas for more than a decade before and for two decades after the establishment of the State of Israel (1935–70). The newsreels were of prime importance in creating and documenting visual representations of everyday life in the burgeoning Jewish state, particularly in view of the late introduction of television (1968) to Israel. This article examines the place of the newsreels in the Hebrew language media on the eve of the establishment of the state, particularly the division of roles between newspapers and the filmed newsreels. It argues that for various reasons, including a range of technological and contextual constraints and the fact that they were screened in cinemas in conjunction with feature films as part of a programme of entertainment, the newsreels were for the most part upbeat, celebrating the achievements of the Zionist project. They did not offer an alternative to the print press, but rather added a visual, in the main positive, perspective to the print newspapers.