Ayala Hasson, first woman to head Channel One News Division

The first woman to be appointed to this position, despite many complaints over many years by women’s organizations.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
IBA logo 311 (photo credit: Courtesy of IBA)
IBA logo 311
(photo credit: Courtesy of IBA)
Veteran television and radio broadcaster Ayala Hasson-Nesher has been appointed acting head of the news division at the Israel Broadcasting Authority’s Channel 1.
Hasson has broken the glass ceiling by becoming the first woman to be appointed to this position, following years of complaints by women’s organizations that claimed that women suffered discrimination within the IBA.
Women have held and presently hold important positions in front of the cameras and holding the microphones, as well as in the IBA’s legal department, in the documentaries department and in radio and television editing.
The complaints could, however, be valid with regard to top management positions.
There has never been a female director-general of the IBA, nor have women headed the television or radio news divisions.
But women have certainly conquered the IBA’s air waves .
In addition to Hasson-Nesher other examples include; Carmella Menashe, Esti Perez, Liat Regev, Keren Neubach, Pe’erli Shahar, Iris Lavi, Anat Dolev, Anat Davidov, Ofra Nechmad, Adi HaMeiri and Merav Miller.
It is ironic that Hasson-Nesher has reached this peak in her career a month before her 53rd birthday and at a time when the IBA is in the process of being dismantled.
Her appointment is a revolutionary decision, taken by liquidator-cum-receiver Prof. David Hahn and IBA Editor-in Chief Yona Wiesenthal, who took over from director-general Yoni Ben-Menachem, who was ousted from the IBA by the Knesset vote for its closure.
The decision to appoint Hasson- Nesher virtually assures her a place in the public broadcasting entity that will be established in the IBA’s stead.
Hasson-Nesher is the key political reporter for Channel 1 and also hosts Friday night’s Diary, a news and current affairs round-up. On Thursday mornings she hosts It’s All Talk on Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet.
As an investigative reporter she has numerous scoops to her credit, such as the Harpaz affair, which broke in 2012 and has yet to be concluded.