Journalistic Justice: Interviews with Rony Daniel and Gideon Levi

According to Rony Daniel, the respected senior reporter on security issues and the Arab-Israeli conflict, justice is not relevant to journalism. Daniel has seen it all: Young dead Israeli soldiers, innocent or less innocent Palestinian children wounded or killed, and an 18-year-old Israeli soldier who shot a child in almost surrealistic circumstances. He and his crew record and sometimes air unbearable sights. They do so during the morning news and early in the evening. At night, children who are still up watch TV before going to bed. "Is that just?" he asks. "Where do I place limits and when should I sensor the visual material?" His question is rhetorical and literal at the same time. He views his job as delivering reality, not as being "just". Reality is not sterile, nor is it the reporter's job to be just. For Daniel, he creates justice by fulfilling his mission — passing on the facts — not by judging those facts, nor softening them, and certainly not by catering to the audience sitting at home. He believes that each person who watches televised news must choose what is just for himself and his offspring. Gideon Levi, a senior journalist covering the domestic Palestinian scene for Haaretz, does not agree with Daniel. He stresses that he, too, does not take sides. He also fulfils his duty by providing reliable information. Yet, he feels it important that the inhumane by-products of Israel's behavior in the conquered territories must be accurately reported so that the entire population will be informed about what is transpiring there.