The Society for the Public's Right to Know held its award ceremony Sunday evening at the Zionist Organization of America House in Tel Aviv. Professor Eli Volk, chairman of the 15-year-old organization, noted its creation against the backdrop of the feeling that journalism in Israel wasn't free enough, responsible enough or realistic enough. In addition to fighting that feeling, he said he was happy about the group's variety of activities, which included the law for rating movies, stopping significant changes in the broadcasting law, and research into media which revealed tendencies for gender discrimination.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said, "Respect for the truth, committment to the truth, to the extent that it's possible to achieve, must be a guideline, and it is subject - to a great extent - to skepticism, checking and confirming facts. In that Israeli journalism has a long way to go." He added that the wealth of media channels that Israel has are a basic condition for the open society that Israel wants.