Govt’ Press Office Tries to Level Media Playing Field in Gaza Periphery

Hamodia Staff, hamodia.com

Image from article, with caption: A captured Palestinian fire kite displayed for visiting foreign journalists on the GPO tour of the Gaza periphery, Thursday

Excerpt:

Israel’s Government Press Office (GPO) held a tour for foreign journalists on Thursday in the Gaza periphery where terrorist fire kites and balloons have ravaged large swaths of farmland and nature reserves.

The tour was aimed at “balancing the picture and increasing global awareness of the phenomenon, which is aimed entirely at civilians,” which has received “very little” coverage in the media, the GPO said in a statement.

Over 30 journalists participated, including from German, Spanish, Turkish, Chinese and Japanese press agencies as well as Bloomberg and AP. Radio stations and journalists from – inter alia – Switzerland, Bulgaria, Brazil, Russia and South Korea also participated. ...

GPO Director Nitzan Chen said that in the framework of the struggle over content and headlines, the GPO would expand its public diplomacy [JB emphasis] efforts vis-à-vis the foreign press in Israel, part of which is trying to downplay the significance of the firing and the attacks on communities in the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip.