site.btaIsrael in International Media Discussed During 2nd Panel of World Meeting of Bulgarian Media

The second panel of the 17th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media was hosted by Israel’s Tazpit Press Service (TPS) here on Wednesday. The subject of Israel in International Media was the focus of the discussion.

TPS Executive Director Amotz Eyal said that all news about Israel come from foreign news agencies. While there are misleading headlines as to what happened, there will be antisemitism, he said, noting that this reflects on Israel’s image.

Amotz Eyal said that TPS is striving to be a fast and accurate source of information about Israel. He noted that they have to be different, because it is difficult to understand the people in Israel, where there are many different religions and nationalities. There are many political parties in Israel, each of which is trying to become a political force, he said. There is the conflict between Israel and Palestine, he said, adding that each topic must be well studied. Eyal called for journalistic texts about both good and bad news to be checked instead of merely copying the information.

According to Itai Ruveni, Director of Communications in the NGO Monitor, the problem is not fake news, but taking something that happened and only telling half the story. 

Yifa Segal of the International Legal Forum said that when Israel is concerned, all information should be scrutinized and not taken at face value.

Member of the Knesset Nir Barkat of the Likud party commented that Israel is seeking peace and knows how to achieve it. He noted that his grandparents are Jews from Poland, who survived the Holocaust, while the names of 30 of his family members are inscribed on the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center memorial.

Amotz Eyal said during the discussion that journalistic articles in Israel are not only about terrorist attacks, but about technology and innovations, but foreign news agencies are ignoring these subjects.

The innovative PayPerlens Israeli platform was presented during the panel. The platform was created back in 2017 and offers photographs on demand. Its founder, Ronen Migdal, described how it works, explaining that orders are directed at professional photographers, who fall within certain profiles and are able to complete the job within a set deadline.

The World Meeting of Bulgarian Media is held in partnership with Aurubis Bulgaria, Postbank and Dimitar Madjarov - 2 Ltd.