ABSTRACT
In Israel, there are no effective MAIs. The complex Israeli media regulation system directly affects the financial strength of the electronic broadcast channels, both public and private, which makes the livelihood of the journalists continuously dependent on the goodwill of the politicians. Powerful owners who maintain ties with politicians control the leading print papers and their journalists wage frequent unethical wars of words against colleagues from competing papers. Within the media itself there are very few journalists, few dedicated TV programmes and few online journals or blogs that are primarily dedicated to media accountability. The Israeli Press Council, a voluntary body, does not enjoy significant public influence, though it has an ethics judicial tribunal. The Israeli courts are the preferred arena for media accountability disputes. A major positive development was the adoption of the Israeli Press Council Ethical Code by the Supreme Court for evaluating journalist accountability. New media and social networks do offer new instruments for public participation in media accountability. The Israeli public, big users of social networks, interact with journalists on accountability issues.
