Yitzhak Livni (; October 17, 1934 – February 12, 2017) was an Israeli media personality and writer. He served as editor of the magazines Bamahane Nahal (in the years 1956–1961) and Bamahane (1961–1971), the head of IDF's radio station Galatz (1968–1974), CEO of the Israel Broadcasting Authority (1974–1979), special advisor and later head of the steering committee for the experimental Channel 2 and then chairman of Channel 2 news company.
Biography
Head of Galatz
Livni turned the army radio station Galatz (short for "Galei Tzahal" - "IDF Waves") from a relatively marginal radio station with limited broadcast hours and under the constant threat of closure into a vibrant, diverse, and vital station broadcasting 24 hours a day. He changed its character and outlined the path it would follow. The Galatz style, the pluralism created, and the people who took their first steps in the world of broadcast media while serving there, have all made an impact on other media outlets in Israel, and to a certain degree also contributed to Israeli society and culture in general.
The direction and style first outlined by Livni still exist at the station to this day, given the obligatory variations and changes that have occurred over the years, which is a testament to the strength of the system Livni had put in place for the station. His conception was that a military radio station could have a variety of civilian-oriented, pluralistic, and diverse programs, as well as cultural commitment. in his period programs concerned with current events, social, and cultural issues were all introduced to the lineup, as well as documentaries, dramas, discussions, interviews, game shows, and pop music programs. The guiding principle was that there was no contradiction between maintaining quality broadcasting and cultural commitment and gaining in popularity and increasing the number of listeners.
Livni established the civilian news desk and extended current events journals which were broadcast several times a day (previously the programming schedule included only a military journal and a current events program). This was done while maintaining the station's independence, though it was a military station. He began the tradition of broadcasting "poet songs evening" programs (setting poems to music, including poems by Bialik, Nathan Zach, Yehuda Amichai and others) to bring written poetry closer to sung poetry. Following these evenings, the trend of setting poetry to music had become a common phenomenon in Israeli culture. Galatz became a unique station in the Israeli, as well as the global, media landscape. Already at the first stage of the changes led by Livni, the columnist Doron Rosenblum wrote in Davar: "Galei Tzahal, who had hitherto been nothing but small ripples carrying the foam of pop songs, is gradually becoming a sea of high waves. From a small and unimportant station Galei Tzahal has become both gleeful and serious waves, who have formed a successful merger between the heavy wave and the light wave." Going on to discuss Livni, Rosenblum writes: "At every junction of media influence where he was found, he left a clear imprint of quality. As with some of his parallels in western countries, Livni managed to reinvent the media outlets he headed, to excite them with a spirit of creativity, and in retrospect to make them into landmarks of Israeli culture." Prof. Menachem Mautner wrote about Livni's time at Galatz in a study published in the multidisciplinary journal Plilim in 2000, stating that: "The person responsible for creating these mixtures more than anyone else is Yitzhak Livni (...) in his period the station underwent a series of revolutions which shaped its image for the dozens of years to follow".
IBA and Channel 2
Livni served as CEO of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, the state's public radio and television network, for five years. In his period an emphasis was placed on broadcasting television shows produced in Israel (about 70% of programming) and on combining high quality and good viewership. This was opposed to the perception that high rating must be obtained by sinking to the lowest common denominator. The programming included current events magazines, drama, interviews, satire ("Nikui Rosh"), and entertainment. The principles of public broadcasting were emphasized, and an independence from political pressures was maintained along with the freedom of expression. In radio broadcasting Livni initiated the establishment of "Reshet Gimel" for popular music, and at the same time extensive changes were made and the number of news and talk programs increased at "Reshet Bet".