A new censorship agreement allows editors – for the first time – to go to the High Court of Justice to appeal military blackouts on news.
The agreement, which was signed this week and which no longer gives the Israel Defense Force chief of staff the final word on censorship decisions, also calls for the formation of a committee with representatives from the military and the media to handle problems as they arise. It replaces a 30-year-old agreement that was last amended in 1989.
The agreement was signed Wednesday at the Defense Ministry by a group of editors, the military censor and other government officials.
Yair Stern, head of the state-run Israel Television, said censorship policy had in general been relaxed in recent years, adding that the immediacy of electronic media sometimes pre-empted the censor’s decision.
“In the last operation in Lebanon, we were broadcasting live, and Katyusha rockets were failing right through the broadcasts,” Stern said. “We try to be as cautious as possible, but the censor cannot block the direct flow of news as it did in the past.”
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