Strategic Rituals of Loyalty: When Israeli Journalists Face Digital Hate

This article examines how and why Israeli journalists use their military service as a shield in response to online violence and digital hate. This practice, termed here the military-as-alibi strategy, excludes citizens exempt from military service (e.g. Palestinians), and affirms the presumption that “good journalists” are not to be measured by their reporting but by loyalty tests and their commitment to the national cause. Drawing on interviews with journalists and media analysis, the article frames this phenomenon in the context of a militarised society, but also as part of journalists’ global struggle to win the hearts of audiences in challenging times. It labels the military-as-alibi strategy as a ritual of loyalty, and proposes an alternative path to counter anti-press attacks: if journalism is a public good, then “good journalism” *is* “good citizenship”. This approach might free journalists from nationalist loyalty tests, laying better foundations for journalists–audiences relationships in the future.

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20 journalists under attack