A fifth Hebrew-language daily newspaper, Israel Today, debuted in Israel this week, backed by American casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who is described as the world’s richest Jew (third on Forbes’ list) and a philanthropist of major proportions who is planning to give hundreds of millions of dollars to Jewish and Israeli causes.
The new free paper apparently doesn’t yet have a Web site. It’s already taking potshots from Israeli media elites and critics for being a stalking horse for former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who seeks to return to that post — and who, many say, has Adelson’s ear.
A quick primer on the existing Israeli dailies is necessary for understanding the environment which Israel Today is being launched:
- Yedioth Ahronoth: Mid-market tabloid, daily circulation approximately 300,000. (There’s no Audit Bureau of Circulation in Israel.) Owned by Israel’s largest media group. Generally populist in editorial outlook. It’s so big and dominant that it has been declared a monopoly under Israeli law. Planning its own freebie later this year (see below).
- Maariv: Down-market tabloid, daily circulation approximately 150,000. Owned by prominent family. Populist to right-wing / sensationalist outlook, but with several prominent columnists. Staggering financially, and generally considered to be the weakest link in the media chain here. Israel Today has hired away several prominent Maariv bylines.
- Haaretz: Up-market broadsheet, daily circulation approximately 75,000, but influential — read by everyone with political or business power. Owned by longtime prominent Israeli family. Left-wing editorially and in the news columns, and considered by some to be outside even the extreme boundaries of the Israeli political mainstream. It has a small English-language version packaged with the International Herald Tribune that contains about one-fifth of Haaretz’s regular content.
- Israeli: Youth-oriented tabloid, akin to the “Metro” papers in the U.S. and Europe, given out at train and bus stations. Circulation reportedly at 180,000.
By the way, the Jerusalem Post — probably the best-known brand-name paper outside Israel — is also by far the smallest within the country, with daily circulation around 10,000. Israel also has many Russian and other foreign-language dailies.
Initially, Israel Today is planning to distribute 150,000 copies daily, with an eventual goal of 300,000. Some were even stuffed into individual mailboxes in politically influential, upscale sections of greater Tel Aviv — not in my neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Israel Today is promising “a better press, a “different kind of journalism,” and even an occasional look at Israel’s positive news, according to a translation of the opening day’s editorial by editor Amos Regev.
Israel has a rough-and-tumble media climate, with American journalism values of fairness, balance and (sigh) even accuracy not high on the agenda. Name-calling, intense and sharply worded opinion trump “straight” news. As an example, Haaretz’s coverage of the Israel Today launch, headlined “A newspaper with an agenda,” described Regev’s editorial as “somewhat pretentious,” and quotes several anonymous sources allegedly close to Netanyahu stating baldly that Netanyahu put Adelson up to the project.
Despite the paper’s likely links to Netanyahu, some welcomed the entry of another media voice into the country. But, as usual, those decrying media monopolies in Israel overlook the numerous and lively Hebrew-language news and opinion sites that abound — as well as TV, radio, magazine and ethnic publications.
Despite that the three big media companies have dominated the daily and weekly newspaper scene in Israel, there is no lack of outlet for political opinion in Israel. The joke is that for every two Israelis there are three opinions. I would add that today there is a medium (online or offline), to air all those positions.
