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'Event-Orientation'
Hurting Israel's Image
BERL FALBAUM
Special to The Jewish News
I
srael has fallen victim
to the event-orientation
of the media.
Event-orientation, more
than any other factor, has
distorted the coverage of the
Gaza unrest and led to the
frustration of Israelis and
Jews everywhere who con-
tinuously call for a "historic
perspective" in the reporting.
But history and political
and social issues are not what
motivate news institutions.
Events do. Not even the
media understand the
weakness and institutional
flaw of event-orientation in
portraying a superficial, if not
totally distorted, picture.
Op-ed pieces, esoteric
discussions on such programs
as Meet the Press and
Nightline are important in
refuting one-sided reporting.
But they do little to affect
public opinion, which is form-
ed on the front pages of the
world's newspapers, not on
editorial pages. Public opi-
nion is influenced on the 6
and 11 p.m. news, which em-
phasizes confrontation, not
panel discussions.
This country's labor move-
ment long ago understood
how the media respond and
has effectively told its story
for more than a half-century.
Rather than focusing on the
issues of labor disputes, the
labor movement attracts
media attention with pickets.
Thus, in every case, labor
always has the opportunity to
tell its story first and the
target of the pickets is im-
mediately on the defensive.
And the business world has to
learn how to effectively res-
pond to the inevitable.
The Arabs, either on their
own or with public relations
counsel, may not understand
or be able to articulate the
event-orientation principle,
but they have learned what
attracts reporters. Not only do
"stone-throwing teenagers"
confronting armed Israeli
soldiers make good news copy
— not needing a historical
perspective — but the idea to
fill a ship with deported
"PLO refugees' falls into the
event-orientation formula.
The so: called "Ship of
Return" is a brilliant public
relations idea — no matter
how obscene given its play on
the Exodus — and even news
people recognizing the stag-
ing will nevertheless center
on its voyage and how Israel
may block its entry.
and
Jews
Israelis
throughout the world can
argue academically on televi-
sion talk shows and write
endless Op-Ed pieces reciting
the crimes of the passengers
on the Ship of Return. But
public opinion will be swayed
by television footage of the
ship "arriving" in Israel.
The only effective means to
respond to is to respond with
similar public relations
events. Thus the idea describ-
ed in a recent Jerusalem Post
editorial to have the ship met
by survivors of victims of PLO
terrorists would effectively
neutralize the objectives of
the Ship of Return.
The late Egyptian Presi-
dent Sadat learned his public
relations lessons. from
American consultants. There
were professional public rela-
tions people who had worked
in the White House. They
must have explained to him
the public relations implica-
tions of a proposed visit to
Jerusalem. More than
anything else, this "event"
and its symbolism had a ma-
jor impact on coverage of
Israel in the Western press.
This is not to negate the
courage President Sadat
displayed. He paid with his
life for negotiating with
Israel. But the visit was a
"benchmark" in media
coverage and since that date
Israel has been more or less
on the defensive. The "event"
was so dramatic that even
when it was not supported by
appropriate Egyptian and
Arab policies, Israel has had.
a difficult time in telling its
story.
The visit still offers political
mileage to President
Mubarak. Even though he
has been moving away from
Israel and "returning to the
Arab fold;' he still enjoys the
symbolism of Egypt being a
"peacemaker" becaue of the
historic visit by President
Sadat.
Israel must learn what
stimulates news reporters. It
is pointless and a waste of in-
tellectual energy to argue
with the media about the
superficialty of its coverage.
Israel will not be able to
change "the system."
More importantly, it must
learn to use the system. It
cannot afford to lose the
public relations battle
because politicians respond
only to what they believe is
the public sentiment at any
one time.
For almost 40 years, Israel
has had the support of the