Veteran Israeli Broadcaster Dan Shilon Admits Career Failure
Translated & summarized from Israel Hayom by baba
Veteran Israeli broadcaster Dan Shilon, 85, admitted on a podcast that his biggest career failure was not promoting women to on-camera roles during his time leading news departments at Channel 1 and Reshet. He cited a "stupid tradition" that men should present the news and acknowledged he had the power to change this but didn't. Shilon expressed pleasure in seeing talented women in prominent news roles today, contrasting it with his past inaction.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Veteran broadcaster Dan Shilon, 85, confessed his greatest career failure was not promoting women to on-camera roles.
- Shilon held executive positions at Channel 1 and Reshet, where he made decisions about news presenters.
- He blamed a "stupid tradition" and his own inaction for the lack of female on-camera talent.
- Shilon expressed admiration for the current generation of talented women in Israeli television news.
- The confession was made during an appearance on the podcast "Shirat HaGil".
Veteran Israeli television personality and former executive Dan Shilon, 85, has publicly confessed a significant regret from his decades-long career: failing to promote women to on-camera roles. Speaking on the podcast "Shirat HaGil" (The Song of the Age), hosted by Sarah Peri and attorney Shiri Reiss, Shilon stated, "The failure, and I say this not because I am sitting opposite two women, is that in all my positions I did not promote women to the forefront of the camera. This is a great failure of mine." Shilon held senior positions, including head of news at Channel 1 and establishing and managing Reshet, one of the Channel 2 franchisees, placing him in key decision-making roles regarding news presenters and management.
He attributed his failure to a "stupid tradition" that dictated men should manage media and present the news, explicitly rejecting the idea of blaming the "spirit of the times" or the system. Shilon emphasized that he had the power to enact change but chose not to. Reflecting on the current media landscape, Shilon expressed optimism, noting the prominent roles women now hold in news presentation, reporting, and editing. He described it as a "pleasure" to see the "super talented women" on television today, but immediately contrasted this with his own past shortcomings, reiterating, "And I look at myself and say: I failed in this matter."
