[Jerusalem Post ] Ben Sales - A relative lull in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has led to a fall in the number of foreign journalists in Israel, according to Simon McGregor-Wood, ABC News bureau chief in Jerusalem. The CBS office closed a year and a half ago, while the other major U.S. television networks - ABC, NBC and Fox - have retained their bureaus but cut their staff by half. The cuts, he says, are due to the decrease in "spectacular" violence in the area, coupled with the rise to the fore of other issues. "In terms of the media market there is less interest than there was....There is the enormous drain on resources because of the war in Iraq, which is editorially more interesting and financially more expensive. It's hard to get the attention of the American viewer or reader because of the domestic agenda, which is strong because of the presidential campaign." "The daily conflict between Israel and the Palestinians doesn't change much and becomes repetitive and boring. It's been over-covered." He added that there is an overall decrease in the U.S. media audience and almost all of the big newspapers and television stations are contracting.
2008-08-01 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive