One would think that the harshest critics of the Israeli media regarding the lack of professionalism and problematic ethical conduct, will find many supporters for their views from within the ranks of the journalists themselves. This arises from the findings of the comprehensive, biannual survey of Israeli journalists undertaken for the second time by the Seventh Eye journal, under the aegis of the Israel Democracy Institute. According to the survey findings, most of the journalists have encountered – at least with some frequency – cases of distortion of quotes by journalists, submitting to the influence of commercial considerations on news content, and unfair coverage as a result of bargaining between journalists and their sources. Almost seven out of every ten journalists think that the media structures do not adequately apply the same rules of ethics and integrity that they demand from the subjects of their stories, and about half of the journalists report on heavy pressure on them to supply the goods, regardless of the ethical cost.
Even on the more practical level, the study findings indicate a severe crisis in the journalists’ feelings of security and stability; feelings that could affect their ability to carry out their work in a professional manner. Almost a third of the journalists feel that they are not making an honorable living from their profession; about a quarter of them do not report a feeling of job security. Four out of every ten journalists maintain that they are exposed to harassment or hostility from the public; and what is most surprising - almost 40% of those questioned cited that, as journalists in Israel in the 21st century, they sometimes feel that they are in actual physical danger.
The Sample
As stated, this is the second time that a survey among journalists was carried out by the Seventh Eye (the results of the first survey, carried out at the end of 2002, were published [in Hebrew] in the March 2003 journal). The present study was carried out on a sample of 200 journalists who hold various positions in the national and local media in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, and English. The sampling method was identical to that used in the first survey, so that the fin