Journalists of Israel unite

The Histadrut labor union’s new Journalists Union announced Sunday the creation of eight new representative committees for journalists.

The eight media bodies in question include the broadcast media bodies Channel 2 and Channel 10, the business daily Globes and the daily broadsheet Maariv in addition to four regional media outlets.

The Association was set up about four months ago by a number of leading journalists in a bid to to promote the status of journalists and other media professionals and protect their employee rights. Its goals are individual and collective representation of journalists, promotion of independent journalism and overseeing of regulatory and legislative activities, among others. The organization operates as an independent and democratic body within the labor union.

Like journalists the world over, Israelis have suffered from turmoils of the news industry, and during the last decade many organizations have substantially downsized their reporting staff.