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WE CARRY LOW SALT SCHMALTZ HERRING All Specials Good Through January 13th, 1988 66 FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 1988 , Palestinian Rioting Poses Major Questions BERL FALBAUM Special to The Jewish News D oes media coverage, particularly televi- sion, incite demonstrators such as those in Gaza to riot? What affect, if any, do camera crews have in riot-torn areas? These and other critical questions are being probed by Israeli officials as they con- sider controlling the media in such crises as Gaza. They face the classic question of pitting constitutional rights in a democracy against exploita- tion, distortion and a cause- and-effect relationship. Undoubtedly, Israel suffers not only from the inherent weakness of television but also from outright bias and sensationalism in some parts of the world. England's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher con- sidered the effect of television - in the Falkland Island crisis, and limited news coverage. President Reagan in the inva- sion of Granada similarly made a strategic decision not to alert the media to his plans. Both suffered the ex- pected criticism from the news media but nary a word was heard from the public. Presumably, both these leaders of democratic societies weighed the cost-benefit elements of their decisions and opted for taking the brickbats from the Fourth Estate. Israel, which has probably one of the more sophisticated relationships with its own media, must now ponder how to "control" coverage of such events as in Gaza. There are no easy answers but the hope is that the government will not use the excuse of the negative fallout from media coverage to institute measures which will inhibit freedom of the press in the on- ly democracy in the Middle East. Similarly, it would be unfor- tunate if the usually hyper- sensitive media do not cooperate with officials in try- ing to reach an accommoda- tion which serves the public interest. Several facts are clear: • Television coverage does incite demonstrators. That was a major point in the Kerner Commission report published after the urban riots in this country in the late 1960s. The commission recommended that the media take steps to temper their in- fluence on demonstrators and some media institutions tried by using unmarked cars, sub- duing lights on cameras and generally downplaying their presence. But, unfortunately, those measures have long been forgotten. • Television by its every nature distorts. It is impossi- ble to inform the public on such a complex issue as Arab- Israeli relations in but one minute or two. TV news centers on "action" — results and not the causes of the stories covered. This was evi- dent during Israel's war against the PLO in Lebanon in 1981. • TV news is first and foremost an entertainment medium. It is designed to maintain interest with "ex- citing" film footage not necessarily historical perspec- tives. Commentators and television reporters are hired not for their backgrounds in history or politics but rather on their abilities to handle the TV lens. • Polls have indicated that television is now the prime source of information for most people, making it essential that constructive measures be instituted to make it as ac- curate and comprehensive as possible. What's more, for all the ex- emplary work of many news reporters, the media — print as well as electronic — is replete with errors, distor- tions, simplistic reporting, sensationalism and bias. Thus, the world at times receives superficial, highly- distorted reports on the Mid- dle East, and for that matter, on other places as well. Israel has been the victim of some bad reporting and its image suffered accordingly. At the same time, all the negativism cannot be at- tributed to the media — an easy scapegoat — because at times the government has been guilty of bad policy and its decision to use whatever force is necessary in controll- ing the Gaza riots is at least a debatable one. It is also probably true that the media, even if in- advertently, at times may have caused the military logistical problems in attemp- ting to control the demonstrators. Given all these factors, a media policy designed by the government in cooperation with the media cannot fail to help all the parties involved.