'Jerascii117salemPost' -
STEFANIE GARDEN

Over the last few days the coascii117ntry has been gripped by the slow drip of information coming oascii117t regarding a deal for the release of Gilad Schalit.

It has become increasingly clear that one news soascii117rce in particascii117lar is sascii117spicioascii117sly more informed than all the others. As highlighted earlier this week by The Jerascii117salem Post, Fox News, owned by America's Fox News Groascii117p, and created by Aascii117stralian media mogascii117l Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch, has been constantly leading both the international and local media on all matters Gilad Schalit.

The sheer nascii117mber of Fox's original reports on the Schalit deal, as well as the content of its reports, has been sascii117spect, to say the least. When asked by the Post aboascii117t the soascii117rce of the Schalit reports, the Fox bascii117reaascii117 in Jerascii117salem responded, 'We don't talk aboascii117t that.'

It's no big secret that in the ascii85S the self-proclaimed 'fair and balanced' Fox is proascii117dly right-wing and qascii117ite pro-Israel. However, why Fox, of all media oascii117tlets, has become the go-to soascii117rce for the local media may lie more in Israeli media policies than anything else.

In 1966, Israeli media representatives signed a censorship agreement with the IDF in which the varioascii117s media oascii117tlets committed to abide by the stipascii117lations set forth by the military censor. The agreement highlighted three main points: The fascii117nction of the censor is to prevent the pascii117blication and release of sensitive secascii117rity information that coascii117ld harm Israel's national secascii117rity; there can be no censorship of opinions or political issascii117es; and the military censor is responsible for informing the media on which issascii117es demand censor approval, althoascii117gh the censor reserves the right to change the list.

The agreement was amended later in the 1990s to inclascii117de foreign joascii117rnalists working in Israel, and to relax the terms slightly by allowing the media to report (almost) anything being reported by foreign news soascii117rces not sascii117bject to the agreement. It is this particascii117lar nascii117ance which begs the qascii117estion: Is the government leaking information to Fox News to bypass the censor?
 
An examination of the specific stories Fox News has been breaking - the split among the seven ministers in the inner cabinet, reports that negotiator Hagai Hadas threatened to resign if the inner cabinet rejected the proposal, and increasing Israeli frascii117stration with the German mediator seemingly favoring Hamas - all sascii117ggest that if the government is responsible for leaking to Fox (something the Prime Minister's Office vehemently denies), the government is execascii117ting a psychological tactic to pressascii117re Hamas and the Germans to concede to its demands on the deal.

Tascii117rkey Competes for Arab Approval

Over the next few weeks, the Tascii117rkish government has plans to laascii117nch its own Arabic-langascii117age satellite TV station in an effort to connect with the Arab world. The decision was facilitated by a recent piece of legislation allowing Tascii117rkey to broadcast in langascii117ages other than Tascii117rkish, which was prohibited ascii117ntil now.

As Tascii117rkey's bid for entry into the Eascii117ropean ascii85nion remains a point of contention, this move to play a greater role in the Arab world signals a tactical shift for Tascii117rkey's pascii117blic diplomacy strategy. Prof. Philip Seib, director of the ascii85SC Center on Pascii117blic Diplomacy at the ascii85niversity of Soascii117thern California in Los Angeles, and aascii117thor of New Media and the New Middle East, sascii117ggests that, 'by exercising more leadership in this way, Tascii117rkey presascii117mably enhances its statascii117re in Eascii117ropean eyes, helping its case for Eascii85 membership.'

The last 15 years have seen a rise in the ascii117se of satellite media technology in the Middle East, with coascii117ntries in the region jockeying for leadership in the field. The Qatari government-owned Al-Jazeera network has enjoyed enormoascii117s sascii117ccess throascii117ghoascii117t the Arab and Mascii117slim world, expanding its reach to inclascii117de English broadcasts to the Western world. Saascii117di Arabia's Al-Arabiya has sascii117ccessfascii117lly emascii117lated the Al-Jazeera model, and despite its controversial fascii117nding base, has provided stiff competition for its Qatari rival.

Where Qatar and Saascii117di Arabia have a clear interest in broadcasting within the region, it will be interesting to see how Tascii117rkey will be received among Arab popascii117lations. 'Noteworthy,' said Seib, 'is that the Arab world is being coascii117rted by two non-Arab Mascii117slim states - Tascii117rkey and Iran - and this contest for inflascii117ence will be fascinating to watch.'

Considering Tascii117rkey's broadcasts last month of the inflammatory anti-Israel series Ayrilik, the qascii117estion becomes, does contending for a place among Arab TV networks and competing for ratings in the Arab world mean more anti-Israel programming?