By Benjamin Harvey
Associated Press
Published: 7/19/06
Excerpt:
JERUSALEM -- Here's some news you may never hear about Israel's war
against Hezbollah: a missile falls into the sea, a strategic military
installation is hit, a Cabinet minister plans to visit the front lines.
All
these topics are subject to review by Israel's chief military censor,
who has -- in her own words -- "extraordinary power." She can silence a
broadcaster, block information and put journalists in jail.
"I
can, for example, publish an order that no material can be published. I
can close a newspaper or shut down a station. I can do almost
anything," Col. Sima Vaknin said Wednesday.
Israel believes
that as a small country in a near constant state of conflict, having a
say over what information gets out to the world is vital to its
security. Critics say the policy is a slippery slope not fit for a
democracy.
The range of issues subject to censorship in the
latest conflict with Lebanese guerrillas are all related to the goal of
preventing Hezbollah from using the media to help it better aim rockets
at Israel. ...
... Reporters are expected to censor themselves and not report any of the
forbidden material. This story was not submitted to a censor. When in
doubt, they can submit a story to the censor who will hand it back,
possibly with deletions. The AP will note in a story if any deletions
have been made. If a reporter violates the rules, he or she suffers the
consequences. ...
...Bob Steele, Nelson Scholar for Journalism Values at the Poynter
Institute, a media studies organization, says editors should bear the
responsibility for decisions to publish or not."These are
decisions that the news organizations and journalists should make with
the input of government and military officials," he said. "They should
not be decisions that are made by default."
"We should always push back on censorship," Steele adds, even if it's a losing fight.
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