With Two Hours Notice, Israel’s Old Newscast Goes Dark
Image by Getty Images
By Naomi Zeveloff May 10, 2017
Israel’s oldest news show was yanked off the air on Tuesday after journalists were given just two hours notice that the government was shutting down Channel 1’s nightly news broadcast.
In a teary goodbye, anchor Geula Even announced the ending of the show which had run for 49 years. She was joined In her send-off by staffers who sang the Israeli national anthem, Hatikva, many of them also crying.
The Israel Broadcasting Authority, which runs Channel 1, is being shuttered after years of government deliberation over what to do with the expensive and ageing news organization to make way for a streamlined publicly funded entity called Kan.
Some journalists in the IBA say that Netanyahu targeted the broadcaster because of its critical coverage of him, making its closure a blow to press freedom.
On Wednesday Israel’s parliament is set to vote on measures to allow Kan to go on air next week, and for IBA to simultaneously fully shut down. While hundreds of IBA journalists will be employed at Kan, hundreds more will be out of work.
Senior IBA journalist Yaakov Ahimeir slammed the government on air. “What is this notice, two hours in advance?” he said. “What are we, criminals?”
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected] or on Twitter @naomizeveloff
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
