Israeli TV creators’ social justifications

ABSTRACT In the past three decades, side-by-side with the growing precariousness of the global television industry, a distinction between “quality” TV and “trashy,” commercial TV has been established in many Western TV production fields. As a result, television creators – writers, producers, and directors – confront multi-faceted moral, financial, and professional dilemmas as well as struggles over positions and prestige. Taking the Israeli TV field as a case study, this article aims to study the set of social justifications employed by television creators vis-à-vis the above dilemmas. Drawing on Boltanski and Thévenot’s concepts of social justification and the theories of Pierre Bourdieu, this article finds that in trying to resolve ideological contradictions between commerce and notions of artistry, Israeli television creators assume the position of professionals with social responsibility and artistic conviction.