On Thursday, 22 December 2005, The IDI hosted a meeting of 40 spokespersons from government offices and members of The Seventh Eye journal. The Seventh Eye is the Israel Democracy Institute’s bimonthly journal (in Hebrew) for and by journalists. For over a decade, this journal has managed to maintain its original purpose of supplying journalists with a platform for evaluating and critiquing the media’s performance. As such, this magazine holds a unique international status. Topics discussed at this meeting included the interaction between the media and spokespersons, for example, how spokespersons should handle events, such as the hospitalization of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The issue of ethical conduct was discussed as well.
All parties involved agreed that the IDI will continue to provide the arena for more meetings of this kind, between spokespersons and media representatives, in order to provide a platform for clarifying issues and solving problems.