Electronic Journalism in Segmented Societies: Lessons from the 1996 Israeli Elections

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Abstract
A study of the part played by the media in the 1996 elections in Israel reflects on the evolution of new practices of electronic journalism in segmenting democracies. Contrary to prevailing perceptions about the direct barrages of television influences-such as spot advertising, and the televisual promotion of politicians-we show the following: (1) By making it their job to challenge the rhetoric of political advertising, journalists now reduce the effectiveness of the political campaign on television. (2) At the same time, recent news coverage, especially stories that are treated as ''disaster marathons," maximize television journalists' tendency toward melodramatic coverage, thus creating an atmosphere that undermines the public's ability to form a considered opinion. (3) Recent developments of identity politics cause national television gradually to lose its function as the common public sphere for the various factions of society, shifting the public debate to multicultural public ''spherecules," operating in alternative, community media. (4) Whereas nationwide television is pushed to emotional titillation as it competes for the attention of viewers as consumers, community media, expected to appeal to the emotions of their audiences as members of the collectivity, also carry out a lively, ideological (though partisan), debate. During the Israeli elections, it was the coverage of disaster, not the frontal influences of television, that determined the voting patterns. Moreover, the community media of the various cultural enclaves were more effective than nationwide media in carrying out the admittedly fragmented political debate, and in mobilizing voters.

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