Keeping bias at bay
Leah Zinder explains IBA English News's importance in balancing foreign networks' coverage of Israel
Mabat Lahadashot, Channel One's prime-time news program, had already settled its correspondents in, but Zinder knew IBA News's budget was somewhat less allowing. "With us it's always some kind of improvisation," she says. "They said I could come but that there were no arrangements, and I said, 'I don't care, I'm going'."
That night, Zinder slept on the grass. She awoke at 2 am, soaking wet. "They had turned on the sprinklers a day before the evacuation," she recounts. Zinder didn't know what was odder, that a diplomatic correspondent was spending the night a community lawn or that the settlers had chosen to water that lawn on the eve of their departure.
Zinder now serves as the network's deputy editor and hosts the talk show 'Close Up'. In times of great instability for Israel's Broadcasting Authority, due to a vast, overhauling reform, she strives to keep her team afloat with lots of energy and an insatiable hunger for news.
"Our budget is very limited," she explains. "We've learned to get by throughout the years but we hope this reform will be our renaissance. We have a lot of new programs and hope to become an international channel… On the one hand there is a lot of insecurity, with the sword of budget cuts hanging over our heads, but on the other we have promise and hope for change."
The IBA English News, watched mainly in the US, went on the air in 1990. Zinder was then Israel Radio's English-speaking political correspondent. Her first challenge was the Gulf War, which she covered for international viewers.
Leah Zinder covers anti-Semitism in Sweden
But there were many who didn't believe an English-language news program was necessary. "There have been attempts over the years to remove us from Channel 1 and to take us off the air in general," she recounts.
"There was a period in which they transferred us to the JSC studios and we broadcast from there – that was before the age of the digital teleprompter. We would run through the rain with tapes and papers about 15 minutes before show-time to reach the studio. But finally what kept us on the air was the support from our viewers."
Not a 'hasbara' channel
Zinder says the idea was to provide foreign diplomats, journalists, and tourists with the local news. "They would generally turn on the Jordanian news at 10. After networks such as Al-Jazeera came on with the news in English, and in light of the extremely biased coverage supplied by some of the foreign news channels, Israel began to have a need to report what happens here and to distinguish ourselves from the broadcasts of foreign journalists. We needed to supply the local angle," she said.
"But I must say that we vehemently object to being called a 'hasbara' channel," Zinder explains, referring to Israeli publicity efforts. "No one has ever interfered with our content. We certainly try to show all sides of an issue. However, there is definitely a difference between reporting what happens here from here and foreign journalists who see reality differently."
Zinder adds that the show has changed over the years. "At first we emphasized international news, but today we have come to concentrate almost exclusively on news related to Israel and the region," she says.
"In addition, I've traveled to Sweden to do a show on the anti-Semitism there and to Yeruham to report changes in the education system, so there are also things that have nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," she says.
'Close Up', which Zinder hosts, delves more profoundly into the issues at hand. "Being a political correspondent is fascinating and I did it for quite a while. But recently I've been more attracted to doing 'Close Up' and the possibility of dealing a little in documentaries. We don't have the luxury of going out into the field to film, but the reality beyond politics interests me," she explains.
Serving the Diaspora
Despite her overwhelmingly American accent, 40 years in Israel and her marriage to an Israeli man have rendered Zinger a proud local and even prouder Zionist. Never disheartened by the fame and success lavished on 'Mabat', Zinder says she's happy to be "part of Israel's service to the Diaspora".
When asked whether she would consider working for the foreign networks in exchange for heftier paychecks, Zinder is adamant. "Never. First of all, I don't work on Saturdays, and second, I feel it's a part of my Zionism. I'm very glad to be part of the Broadcasting Authority."
But she is more comfortable reporting the news in English. "I grew up in a home in which both parents spoke Hebrew – my mother was a Hebrew teacher and I studied it in school and university, but I could never speak. No one likes to make mistakes in a language and feel foolish," she says.
A self-professed "news addict", Zinder's favorite channels are Sky and BBC. "I think Fox are so blatantly biased it's funny, but their showmanship, glitter, and look is pioneering, and I think they really made a change in news programming in the US," she says.
However, Zinder is appreciative of objectivity. Expressing your opinion is alright, especially on a talk show, she says, "and even I as a political correspondent have the freedom to say what I want." But she doesn't see this as her goal.
"I try to keep from expressing an opinion. There are viewers who write to me occasionally and believe they know my position, but I don't think this is right. My job is to invite people from political extremes to debate their views, and we try to ask both sides difficult questions."
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