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124

The Post's 'Rebels'
Reply to Rapoport

JEWISH
NATIONAL FUND

"And Thou
Shalt be
Informed"

1 ,--.

I COMMENT I

'

ouis Rapoport's column
last week on "What
Really Happened At
The Jerusalem Post?" could
become part of the curricu-
lum of schools of journalism.
Rarely does one encounter
such a concentrated journal-
istic dose of distorations.
Thirty senior editors and
reporters left the Post two
weeks ago, risking their car-
eers and livelihood. They
were unwilling to be treated
as workers on an assembly
line; they refused to write in
a newspaper run by an inex-
perienced publisher who
wished to bend their profes-
sionalism in the name of
some illusory 'balance', they
stood up for the journalist's
right to control his own mind
and his own view of the world.
For this, these journalists
have rightly received favour-
able coverage in the world
and Israeli media. The unus-
ual extent of that coverage is
a direct consequence of the
high esteem accorded these
"rebels" by their colleagues
and of the worldwide respect
given to the Jerusalem Post
while it was under their
influence.
Rapoport prefers to deal
with the issue by blaming
"yellow journalism" and a
slick public relations cam-
paign conducted by the "reb-
els." He offers the same ex-
planation for the Palestinian
uprising in the territories
held by Israel — it is all an in-
vention of the media.
Rapoport states that "what
really happened" at the Jeru-
salem Post was a "grab for
power that failed." He reports
that 30 established and re-
spected journalists quit their
jobs only because David Lan-
dau, the former managing
editor, failed in his bid to
become editor of the paper.
Rapoport takes his cue from
the Canadian owner of the
Post, David Radler, who
described the events in the
Post as a "power play." A
smart move, in light of the
fact which he neglects to
mention in his 'objective"
report on the events there.
David Landau did not
"coerce" anybody to leave the
Post with him, as Rapoport

Menachem Shalev is the
former diplomatic

correspondent of the.
Jerusalem Post. He is the
spokesman of the group of

journalists who left the Post.

claims. It is ridiculous to
assume that 30 adult profes-
sionals, each with his own
reputation and livelihood to
maintain, could be persuaded
by one individual to leave a
safe and secure job for the
unemployment queue.
Landau is, admittedly, one
of the most highly-regarded
journalists in Israel, admired
both by his colleagues and by
the entire Israeli political
establishment. Some of the
journalists who resigned with
him — such as myself — be-
lieve that a newspaper that
cannot find room for such a
talented journalist is not
worth working for. That does
not turn my resignation into
a "power play."
Rapoport lends credence to
his column by quoting var-
ious staffers who remained at
the Jerusalem Post. He cites
Yaakov Reuel, the paper's
editorial writer, as blasting
the "yellow" Isralei jour-
nalism. Rapoport places
Reuel's quote in such a con-
text that it is clear that he is
objecting to the sympathy
shown for those who resigned.
Reuel told me subsequent-
ly that he was speaking to
Rapoport privately as a col-
league, and that he was ob-
jecting to some of the reports
in the Israeli press generally,
and not because they were
favourable to the "rebels."

The journalists who re-
signed do not dispute the
right of the newspaper's
owner, or of his representative
in Israel, Col. (res.) Yehuda
Levy, to put out any paper
they see fit.

We who resigned, however,
are under no obligation to
cooperate with this venture.
And when our former editor,
Erwin Frenkel, informed us
that Col. Levy was exercising
intolereable interference in
his editorial authority, most
of us felt that we had no
choice but to bid farewell to
the newspaper which we all
cherished in recent years.
We are now engaged in an
attempt to set up an alter-
native newspaper which could
uphold the liberal tradition of
the Jerusalem Post and which
could once again mirror the
true image of Israel to
English-speakers here and
around the world. Our success
against the rump Jerusalem
Post is assured, if its level of
reporting will be anything
similar to that shown by your
columnist Rapaport, the new
Jerusalem Post employee, in
his column last week. ❑

ll