Vox Populi or Lonely Voices in the Wasteland of the Ionosphere: The Case of Israeli Community Television

Abstract

Since Israel became a state, the country’s media institution has leaned toward the continental European model, displaying remnants of both a British colonialist and a local European one adapted to Israeli reality. The theoretical significance of this framework is such that it swings between authoritarian characteristics of a media institution with newspaper licensing and military censorship, and democratic characteristics of a European model that considers free press a social right. Although in Israel this right is not anchored in a written constitution or law, it is exercised de facto, supported by Supreme Court precedents (Nossek and Limor, 2001). Public ownership of the broadcasting sphere is expressed as public radio and television, with public control over operating franchises for commercial terrestrial television and regional radio, cable television, and direct broadcast satellite. Commercial, local, and sectarian media—particularly newspapers, periodicals, and pirate radio—operate alongside the national media. Besides catering to separate regions, these media serve as functional community media for Russian immigrants, the religious ultra-orthodox, the Arab sector, and certain elements on the right wing, particularly settlers in Judea and Samaria (Nossek and Limor, 2001).