Among the departments most gravely hit by voluntary early retirement of human resources was the IBA English News that lost all of its permanent staff with the exception of two people.
By GREER FAY CASHMANIBA logo(photo credit: COURTESY OF IBA)
Anxious viewers of the IBA News in English, who discovered to their consternation that the program was blacked out on Thursday of last week and Sunday of this week, can take comfort in the knowledge that the program is scheduled to resume on Monday.A spokesman for the Israel Broadcasting Authority told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that large-scale resignations, officially termed voluntary early retirement, has taken a toll on programming and instant solutions cannot always be found for problems resulting from lack of staff.Among the departments most gravely hit by voluntary early retirement of human resources was the IBA English News that lost all of its permanent staff with the exception of two people.To the best of his knowledge, said the spokesman, the program will return to its regular time slot with more or less the same format on Monday of this week, and will remain on-air for at least until such time as the IBA is finally dismantled at the end of March 2016.Both among employees who have left as well as those still working, there are serious doubts as to whether a new public broadcasting entity to replace the IBA can be established within the time frame determined by the Knesset.There have already been two extensions of the deadline.If the current one is not met there are fears that this will mean the end of public broadcasting in Israel, and that Army Radio will be next in the firing line.Over the years, two or three chiefs of staff have unsuccessfully attempted to close down Army Radio. Even so, the station continues to operate under a cloud.Broadcasters and supporters of public broadcasting warn that if it disappears, so would the concept of reliable news reports because commercial broadcasting is governed by the dictates of its advertisers, many of whose principals are often personal friends of the owners of commercial broadcasting enterprises – and this too plays a role in what may or may not be broadcast.
