A friendly reminder from your censor

Today's memo from the Israel Defense Forces censorship office:

1. Real-time reports on the exact locations of rocket hits are strictly prohibited. Reports, on delayed-time, of exact locations must always be approved by the IDF Censor.

2. The IDF Censor will not authorize reports of rocket hits at IDF bases and/or strategic installations.

3. The IDF Censor will not authorize reporting on rockets that fell into the Mediterranean Sea.

4. The IDF Censor will not authorize photographs of rockets with identifying marks.

5. The IDF Censor will not authorize reports regarding visits by senior Israel Government officials and IDF officer in southern Israel.

6. The IDF Censor will not authorize information on exploded terrorist ordinance or any other malfunctioning ordinance.

7. Panoramic, wide-angle, etc. photographs of rocket hits are strictly prohibited.

Please ensure that all staff members are aware of the foregoing.

The foregoing does not obviate the obligation to submit to the IDF Censor – prior to publication – of any news item regarding rocket hits or any other subject that must be approved by the IDF Censor.

Comments

[Carlos Townsend]

buenos,

7 rules of 1984?

godspeed.

[Tina]

Yes, it's much better to follow the rules of Hamas and Hizbollah where they just kill you if you print something that is unauthorized.

[Edie]

Tina,

Can you give some examples and cite your sources, please?

I'd be very interested to read about it since I haven't heard this before.

Journalists in Lebanon on their blogs have mentioned having to check in with Hezbollah when reporting in south Lebanon - I think Dion mentioned this once when he was there - but Anthony Shadid from the Washington Post in a documentary I watched just the other day was saying how he and other reporters were watching Hezbollah re-supply some of their positions in 2006 without permission and Hezbollah saw them and did nothing.

Thanks.

[Dion]

As I have said before, I and other Western reporters regularly working in Gaza are able to report widely and freely without Hamas interference.
The greatest danger reporters in Lebanon faced during the recent war came from Israeli air strikes, not Hezbollah minders.

[Montag]

Reminds me of something the risque book publisher Maurice Girodias wrote in his autobiography: "The first thing they censor is the WORD "censorship." Israel claims to be an open, Westernized society with Freedom of the Press--obviously not so much!

[Leo]

Giving exact location of rockets hits is actually aiding the Palestinians to aim better.

The Hamas arrest reporters whose report are no to their likes.
Now THAT'S CENSORSHIP.

[Bob Jones]

Of course Isrealis censor the media on rocket attacks. They want the the world to see the rocket attacks in the most unfavorable light. When the IDF goes and destroyes entire villages and cities and indiscrimanently kills men, women, and children, that is definently censored.

[Edie]

I think it's interesting that some people continue to INSIST that Hamas and Hezbollah harass, 'mind' or censor - well not just censor news, but actually kill - not stories, but journalists - if they don't like what's being said AFTER an experienced, western reporter has repeatedly stated that he has worked in the region for years and this has not been his or others' experience.

[Todd Shishler]

Journalists killed by Hamas: 0
Journalists killed by Hezbollah: 0
Journalists killed by Israel (2000-2004): 12

[ash-shakkak]

Does this apply to all journalists working in Israel/OPT? Do you need to run your reports through the censorship office before you file? How does this work in practice?

[Dion]

In practice, I personally have never sumitted a story to the Israeli censor for approval.
In writing a recent story about rocket strikes on Ashkelon, I agreed informally with city officials not to print a map they gave me showing the precise locations of the rocket strikes in the city.
During the 2006 war, when we went to visit Israeli military encampments, we were asked not to write too many details about the location, something we agreed to do so we could visit the soldiers and see the war-in-progress.
Despite repeated requests, Israel never allowed many Western reporters to embed with Israeli troops heading into southern Lebanon.
In Gaza, Hamas has, at times, tried to quash the free press, but they have done so with little success. Journalists are still able to operate freely down there without Hams interference. These days the growing threat in Gaza appears to be coming from a resurgence in militants not aligned with Hamas who appear to be renewing their attempt to kidnap Westerners as political pawns.