During wars and crises, journalists move on sequences of dilemmas. Throughout the Defense Shield Operation days
and after them, Israeli journalists moved on such sequences towards the non-critical and uniting patriotic direction. It wasn't a homogeneous movement, and different journalists reached different points on such sequences.
Journalists routinely deal with daily dilemmas, which become more extreme in days of crisis and war.
The public discussion over the functioning of various means of communication during the Defense Shield Operation was highly emotional, biased by ideology and political views, and maily superficial. The critics from both ends of the political map, claimed that the media had actually betrayed its original purpose while serving as the voice of the IDF. At the same time, however, others claimed that the media had served "the enemy's interests", had betrayed Israel and as always had stabbed a knife at the nation's back by speaking in Arafat's name.
A partial explanation for these contradictions is the political, ideological or
professional location of the various people who make such claims. I.e., the predictable differences between left wing and right wing political views, between journalists and military people and between politicians and academics who study the media and interpret it. Another source for this confusion may be not distinguishing between dilemmas, and the rate of the function of the media at such times. An example of how superficially this problem is presented, is the fact that even an excellent and professional magazine such as The Seventh Eye had the following headline on its front page: "Has The Media Betrayed Its Purpose?"
Is there, really, only one kind of media? Does it have only one role? Whoever presents this discussion in such a manner, actually misses the immense inner versatility in the media, among various journalists and means of communication. He also misses the complexity of the journalistic mission, the various dimensions of loyaly to this profession, to the state, one own's view and the truth. In order to learn about the journalistic dilemmas during the Defense Shield Operation , we have checked the public discussion about the media's function, the journalists' dilemmas and the pressures and forces that operated at the time. In order to do that, we have picked every reference of these matters in the various broadcasts and in the press, in internet sites, in The Seventh Eye Journal and journalistic talk shows. Hundreds of references were used to locate professional dilemmas, and ten such dilemmas have, indeed, been found. In my article I will present these ten dilemmas and examples of the communicational discussions about them. This primary mapping can identify the complexity, multiplicity and frequency of these dilemmas, and the fact that they can be intensified to extremities during war days. My examples come only as an illustration of these dilemmas, and by no means intend to serve as a representative sample of how frequent these references are. I hope that you have enjoyed my article. Thank you!