Michael Elkins
Encyclopedia
Michael Elkins was an American broadcaster and journalist who worked for the American network, CBS
, for the magazine Newsweek and then for 17 years with the BBC
. He was the first to report Israel's destruction of Arab air forces on the opening day of the Six Day War in 1967. CBS did not trust his report and he left.
He excelled at school and educated himself in libraries. He fell in with hoodlums in New York, then moved to the American West Coast as a union organiser before joining his brother Saul to write scripts in Hollywood. He worked in Europe in the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA during the second world war.
In 1947 Elkins met Teddy Kollek
in New York. Kollek was later mayor of Jerusalem. In 1947 he was organising illegal shipments of arms to the Jewish Haganah
in Palestine. Elkins joined in. The FBI discovered his involvement and he and his wife, Martha, fled to Israel. They lived on a kibbutz
, then moved a year later to Jerusalem.
as Israeli tanks moved into Sinai.
Elkins was the first to report Israel's destruction of Arab air forces on the first day of the Six Day War. He telephoned CBS but it hesitated to broadcast his story. The BBC ran it.
Elkins had come across a politician he knew. The politician directed him to the war-room. Elkins wrote the story but Israeli military censors delayed it. Elkins proposed a deal. He would hold back the story if the censors gave him permission to be the first to broadcast when it was cleared. They agreed. CBS sent him a one-liner: "You alone with Israeli victory. You'd better be right."
Elkins visited New York in the autumn and called on CBS. He was congratulated for his scoop. "Get lost," he said. "I resign." He said he didn't want the job if they didn't trust him. The journalist David Sells said:
protested that the BBC should not employ a Jew and a Zionist to report the Arab-Israeli conflict. Elkins replied: "My reports are a matter of public record. If anyone can find a pattern of bias, let him say so." The BBC supported him until his retirement in 1983.
refused a present at Macy's
department store when he was eight, saying: "This ain't for you, Jewboy."
He regained his faith, he said in the same broadcast, when he was at the liberation of Dachau
in April 1945 as an American serviceman. He said he told a prisoner there that he didn't understand Yiddish; the man retorted: "Don't you speak the mother tongue? Aren't you a Jew?"
"Elkins found that he did and he was," said The Independents obituary.
He joined the Jerusalem Report magazine as ombudsman
and letters editor in 1990 and worked for another 10 years. He was there until two days before his death.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, for the magazine Newsweek and then for 17 years with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. He was the first to report Israel's destruction of Arab air forces on the opening day of the Six Day War in 1967. CBS did not trust his report and he left.
Origins
Elkins was the youngest of three sons of East European Jewish immigrants who made clothes in the sweatshops of the Lower East Side. He was embarrassed that his parents spoke Yiddish and that his father walked ahead of his mother in the street.He excelled at school and educated himself in libraries. He fell in with hoodlums in New York, then moved to the American West Coast as a union organiser before joining his brother Saul to write scripts in Hollywood. He worked in Europe in the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA during the second world war.
In 1947 Elkins met Teddy Kollek
Teddy Kollek
Theodor "Teddy" Kollek was mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983 and 1989...
in New York. Kollek was later mayor of Jerusalem. In 1947 he was organising illegal shipments of arms to the Jewish Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
in Palestine. Elkins joined in. The FBI discovered his involvement and he and his wife, Martha, fled to Israel. They lived on a kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
, then moved a year later to Jerusalem.
Career
Elkins began broadcasting with CBS in the USA in September 1956. He became the network's correspondent in Israel. The previous correspondent said he was returning to the United States because "nothing ever happens in Israel". A month later Britain and France invaded SuezSuez
Suez is a seaport city in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez , near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has three harbors, Adabya, Ain Sokhna and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities...
as Israeli tanks moved into Sinai.
Elkins was the first to report Israel's destruction of Arab air forces on the first day of the Six Day War. He telephoned CBS but it hesitated to broadcast his story. The BBC ran it.
Elkins had come across a politician he knew. The politician directed him to the war-room. Elkins wrote the story but Israeli military censors delayed it. Elkins proposed a deal. He would hold back the story if the censors gave him permission to be the first to broadcast when it was cleared. They agreed. CBS sent him a one-liner: "You alone with Israeli victory. You'd better be right."
Elkins visited New York in the autumn and called on CBS. He was congratulated for his scoop. "Get lost," he said. "I resign." He said he didn't want the job if they didn't trust him. The journalist David Sells said:
- He told me once that CBS had then 'offered him the earth' to stay as their correspondent, but he had refused. 'Well done,' I enthused, praising his probity. Elkins looked at me. 'I have to tell you something, David,' he said. 'If Newsweek had not already given me the earth, I would have been sorely tempted.' That was Elkins - tough-minded, but never stupid.
Broadcasting style
Elkins never modified his New York accent and growl, making him unusual among the BBC's correspondents. He spoke in a dated, epic, 1940s American radio style. His obituary in The Independent in Britain described him as "a master story-teller, a reporter with attitude. Even in private conversation, he spoke in vivid, well-crafted sentences. His writings translated less well to the printed page. Without the voice, they appeared a touch contrived."Accusations of bias
Arab lobbyists in the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
protested that the BBC should not employ a Jew and a Zionist to report the Arab-Israeli conflict. Elkins replied: "My reports are a matter of public record. If anyone can find a pattern of bias, let him say so." The BBC supported him until his retirement in 1983.
Jewish background
The Elkins family was traditional but not deeply religious. Elkins said in a BBC talk, A Jew at Christmas, that he lost his Jewish faith when Santa ClausSanta Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
refused a present at Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
department store when he was eight, saying: "This ain't for you, Jewboy."
He regained his faith, he said in the same broadcast, when he was at the liberation of Dachau
Dachau
Dachau is a town in Upper Bavaria, in the southern part of Germany. It is a major district town—a Große Kreisstadt—of the administrative region of Upper Bavaria, about 20 km north-west of Munich. It is now a popular residential area for people working in Munich with roughly 40,000 inhabitants...
in April 1945 as an American serviceman. He said he told a prisoner there that he didn't understand Yiddish; the man retorted: "Don't you speak the mother tongue? Aren't you a Jew?"
"Elkins found that he did and he was," said The Independents obituary.
Writing career
Elkins wrote Forged in Fury in 1971, about the Jewish hunt for Nazi war criminals. He was not a natural author and he returned a publisher's advance after being commissioned to write an autobiography.He joined the Jerusalem Report magazine as ombudsman
Ombudsman
An ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
and letters editor in 1990 and worked for another 10 years. He was there until two days before his death.