Silence is no Longer Golden: Media, Public Relations and the Judiciary in Israel

The media policy of judiciaries is inherently fraught with potential conflicts. On the one hand, judiciaries have strong incentives to foster their relations with the media, and recognize the fact that public confidence is in many ways dependent on quality reporting of the courts. On the other hand, according to classical judicial ethos, silence in the public sphere outside the courtroom still appears to be a central tenet of judicial ideology. Our study, based on interviews with 40 Israeli judges conducted between 2005-2012, points to the contradiction between the formal restraints on judicial media conduct and the judges' acknowledgement of the need for a pro-media approach in an age of transparency and growing public distrust of governing institutions. Our findings regarding the PR practices of the Israeli Judiciary and its responses to the challenges of the media age are analyzed in light of current theories in public relations. La pol&iacute;tica de medios del poder judicial est&aacute; llena de conflictos potenciales. Por un lado, el sistema judicial tiene grandes incentivos para fomentar sus relaciones con los medios de comunicaci&oacute;n, y reconocen el hecho de que la confianza del p&uacute;blico depende en muchos casos de la calidad con la que se informa de los juicios. Por otro lado, y siguiendo los valores judiciales cl&aacute;sicos, todav&iacute;a es un principio b&aacute;sico de la ideolog&iacute;a judicial que se mantenga el silencio en la esfera p&uacute;blica, fuera de las salas de los juzgados. Este estudio, basado en entrevistas con 40 jueces israel&iacute;es llevadas a cabo entre 2005 y 2012, pone de relieve la contradicci&oacute;n entre las restricciones formales en la conducta de los medios de comunicaci&oacute;n judiciales, y el reconocimiento de los jueces de la necesidad de acercar los medios de comunicaci&oacute;n, en una &eacute;poca de transparencia y mayor desconfianza p&uacute;blica hacia las instituciones gobernantes. Se analizan los hallazgos sobre las pr&aacute;cticas de relaciones p&uacute;blicas del sistema judicial israel&iacute; y sus respuestas ante los retos de la era de los medios de comunicaci&oacute;n, a la luz de las teor&iacute;as actuales sobre relaciones p&uacute;blicas. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2506604</p

Promoting Justices: Media Coverage of Judicial Nominations in Israel

This paper compares the framing of the coverage of judicial appointments in Israel in 2008 in two newspapers with nomination news from preceding years and to the patterns of press coverage in the U.S. A content analysis of 101 Supreme Court nomination articles indicated that unlike the political frame of American coverage, the press in Israel preserves its ostensible commitment to the professionalism of judges while linking the Supreme Court to political maneuvering in the selection of candidates. These findings are discussed within the context of the media's role in constructing judicial nominations as a debate about the role of the Supreme Court in Israeli society. Este art&iacute;culo compara el marco de la cobertura de los nombramientos judiciales en Israel en 2008 en dos peri&oacute;dicos, con noticias de nombramientos de a&ntilde;os anteriores y en los Estados Unidos, con los patrones de cobertura de prensa en los EE.UU. Un an&aacute;lisis de contenido de 101 art&iacute;culos de nombramientos de la Corte Suprema indic&oacute; que, a diferencia del marco pol&iacute;tico de la cobertura de Am&eacute;rica, la prensa en Israel consierva su aparente compromiso con la profesionalidad de los jueces, a pesar de que relaciona la Corte Suprema con maniobras pol&iacute;ticas en la selecci&oacute;n de candidatos. Estos resultados se discuten en el contexto del papel de los medios de comunicaci&oacute;n en la construcci&oacute;n de los nombramientos judiciales como un debate sobre el papel de la Corte Suprema en la sociedad israel&iacute;. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2478756 </p

Between Formalism and Discretion: Measuring Trends in Supreme Court Rhetoric

This is the first study to use an empirical quantitative analysis to determine the nature of formalism in court decisions. Our analysis has revealed the complex interplay between different types of formalism in Supreme Court of Israel decisions and provides a new way of addressing a jurisprudential issue that has been debated by legal scholars for centuries. The aspiration for formality is an integral element of judicial decision writing. Judges are expected to decide cases based on rules, with limited discretion and choice, using professional, dispassionate, and impersonal language. At the same time, deviation from formalism, which reflects personal expression and acknowledges the complexity of legal cases, has also appeared in judicial rhetoric

Verbal play on the hospital ward: solidarity or power?

This paper looks at the function of humorous interchanges in the negotiation of roles and identities on an acute geriatric ward. Humour is not often discussed as a feature of interactions between medical professionals and patients, but some authors have noted that joking interactions often characterise care-giving relationships and may be interpreted as a way of easing the face-threat of physical examinations. In many studies, Brown and Levinson’s (1987) theory of politeness is invoked, assuming that joking behaviour is one manifestation of face work, being a form of positive politeness (since it is based on shared knowledge). However, Brown and Levinson’s alternative explanation may be applicable in the hospital ward context: joking may be seen as an exploitation of politeness strategies, wherein the speaker seeks to redefine the face-threatening act through humour. A full account of the relational impact of playful talk needs to take account of both the macro context and the local, sequential unfolding of turns at talk.</p