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Yedioth Ahronoth

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Yediot Achronot (Hebrew: יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, pronounced [jediˈ(ʔ)ot aχ(a)ʁoˈnot] ⓘ; lit. "Latest News") is an Israeli daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv. Founded in 1939, when Tel Aviv was part of Mandatory Palestine, Yedioth Ahronoth is Israel's largest paid newspaper by sales and circulation and has been described as "undoubtedly the country's number-one paper."[2] It is published in the tabloid format.

Yedioth Ahronoth
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Front page dated 31 March 1940
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Yedioth Ahronoth Group
Founder(s)Gershom Komarov [he]
PublisherArnon Mozes [he]
EditorNeta Livne [he]
Founded11 December 1939 (1939-12-11)
LanguageHebrew
Headquarters138 Begin Rd.,
Tel Aviv, Israel
CountryIsrael
Circulation300,000 weekdays
600,000 weekends[1]
Sister newspapersCalcalist
Websiteyediot.co.il
yediot.com
ynetespanol.com

It is known as centrist, compared to the left-leaning Ha'aretz and right-leaning, distributed-for-free Israel Hayom newspapers in Israel.

History

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Yedioth Ahronoth's former headquarters in Tel Aviv.[3]

1939–1948: Foundation and expansion

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Yedioth Ahronoth was established in 1939 by an investor named Gershom Komarov [he]. It was the first evening paper in Mandatory Palestine, and attempted to emulate the format of the London Evening Standard. Running into financial difficulties, Komarov sold the paper to Yehuda Mozes [he], a wealthy land dealer who regarded the paper as an interesting hobby and a long-term financial investment. His sons Reuben and Noah ran the paper, with Noah as the first managing editor.[2]

1948–1984: In competition with Maariv

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In 1948, a large group of journalists and staff members led by chief editor Ezriel Carlebach left to form Yedioth Maariv, shortly later known as Maariv. According to Carlebach and his associates, their reason for leaving Yedioth Ahronoth was Mozes' interference in their editorial decisions. He was replaced as chief editor by Herzl Rosenblum. Carelbach is considered the most prominent journalist of his era and his and his associates' departure from Yedioth is commonly known in Israeli media history as "The Putsch", or the coup. This began an ongoing battle for circulation and prestige between the rival newspapers, which peaked during the 1990s when both papers were discovered to have bugged one another's phones.[4][5] In the first decades following Carlebach's departure, Maariv's circulation greatly outnumbered Yedioth's although over the years Yedioth's readership grew steadily and by the early 1980s its circulation eclipsed Maariv's and made it the country's largest newspaper. This success was in large part thanks to the efforts of Dov Yudkovski, a distant cousin of Mozes and Holocaust survivor who joined Yedioth following "the Putsch" in 1948, serving as editorial manager between 1953 and 1986, and chief editor between 1986 and 1989. Although officially Rosenblum held the title of chief editor between 1948 and 1986, his duties only extended to writing the paper's leading editorial article while Yudkovski acted as chief editor in practice.

1984–1993: In competition with Hadashot

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On March 4, 1984, a new competitor to Yediot Ahronoth was established, the Hadashot newspaper founded by Amos Schocken. Hadashot featured a large color headline and color pages, and used more innovative and less formal language. Its main target audience were the readers of Yediot Ahronot, a situation that required Yediot Ahronot to react in order to maintain its readers and market position. Yediot editor Moshe Vardi, together with Noni Mozes, led the transition of the newspaper to printing in color. Zeev Galili, appointed head of reporters, recruited a series of freelance reporters from other newspapers, and worked to improve the newspaper's ability to obtain scoops. The changes in Yediot Ahronot paid off, and Hadashot was forced to close after nine years of activity, after heavy losses for the Schocken family.

1993–2007: Back in control

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For his achievements, Yudkovski was awarded the Sokolov Prize for Journalism in 2000 and the 2002 Israel Prize in Communications.

Moshi Vardi was replaced as editor in 2005 by Rafi Ginat. Shilo De-Beer was promoted to editor in April 2007.[6]

Since 2007: In competition with Israel Hayom

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In 2007, Israel Hayom, a free newspaper owned by the family of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, was launched.[7] By July 2010, Israel Hayom had overtaken Yedioth Ahronoth as the most read newspaper in terms of exposure with a rate of 35.2% compared to Yedioth's 34.9%.[8]

De-Beer was replaced as editor by Ron Yaron in 2011. As of 2017, the paper is headed by Noah Mozes's son, Arnon Mozes. In January 2017, secret recordings were released of conversations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mozes discussing a potential deal in which the newspaper would provide better coverage of Netanyahu in exchange for the government limiting the circulation of competitor Israel Hayom.[9][10][11] This led to the opening of "Case 2000" corruption investigation against Netanyahu.[citation needed]

Ownership

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The newspaper is owned by the Yedioth Ahronoth Group,[12] which also owns shares in several Israeli mass media companies, such as "Channel 2", a commercial television channel; "Hot", the national cable TV company; "Yedioth Tikshoret", a group of weekly local newspapers; Vesti, a Russian language newspaper; magazines, such as the weekly TV guide magazine Pnai Plus and weekly women's magazine La'Isha; and other non-media companies.[citation needed]

Yedioth Ahronoth has its own publishing house called "Yedioth Sfarim" (Hebrew ידיעות ספרים).[citation needed]

Circulation and reputation

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As of July 31, 2023, a TGI survey indicated that Israel Hayom, distributed for free, is Israel's most read newspaper, with a 29.4% weekday readership exposure, followed by Yedioth Ahronoth, with 22.3%, Haaretz with 4.8%, Globes with 4% and Maariv with 3.9%.[13]

In 2006, Yedioth Ahronoth was the most widely-read newspaper among both native Hebrew and Arabic speakers.[14]

According to one author, its marketing strategy emphasizes "drama and human interest over sophisticated analysis."[15]

In 2003, the co-founder of Aswat, an organization supporting lesbian Palestinian women, was outed by the Yedioth Ahronoth after agreeing to an interview, despite asking for her sexual orientation not be included in the article, which led to significant personal backlash.[16]

Editorial stance

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Haaretz wrote in 2021 that Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes "held three series of meetings in which they discussed advancing their interests: Netanyahu sought favorable coverage in the publications of the Yedioth Ahronoth group, while Mozes sought to restrict a competing newspaper – Yisrael Hayom, a free daily owned by the Jewish-American businessman and political donor Sheldon Adelson".[17]

The paper describes itself as the "nation's newspaper" and generally offers editorial space to views across the Israeli political spectrum.[14] The Forward has described Yedioth Ahronoth as centrist compared to the right-leaning Ma'ariv and left-leaning Ha'aretz.[18]

Yedioth Ahronoth has been described as generally critical of Benjamin Netanyahu.[19] A study conducted by Moran Rada with the Israeli Democracy Institute showed that Yedioth's coverage of the 2009 Israeli legislative election was biased in favor of Kadima and its leader Tzipi Livni in most editorial decisions, and that the paper chooses to play down events that do not help to promote a positive image for her, while on the other hand, touting and inflating events that help promote Livni and her party.[20] Oren Frisco reached a similar conclusion after the 2009 Knesset elections, writing that throughout the campaign, Yediot Ahronoth was biased against Netanyahu.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Israel Press, Media, TV, Radio, Newspapers". Press Reference. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b The Israeli Press Archived 11 September 2002 at the Wayback Machine Jewish Virtual Library
  3. ^ The building has been demolished in order to make room for another building as part of the adjacent Azrieli Center (in Hebrew) http://nadlan.walla.co.il/item/2945873
  4. ^ "Israel's newspaper war gets nasty". CBC. 10 November 2000. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Editor of Israeli paper Ma'ariv is charged in wiretapping case". The Jewish News of Northern California. 25 August 1995. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  6. ^ Carmel, Asaf (1 May 2007). "Back to the future". Haaretz. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  7. ^ Li-Or Averbuch (27 January 2010). "TGI survey shows "Globes" only paper to grow". Globes. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  8. ^ Li-Or Averbuch (28 July 2010). "After decades, "Yedioth" no longer top newspaper". Globes. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  9. ^ Haaretz; Tucker, Nati (8 January 2017). "In Secret Tape, Netanyahu Negotiated Favorable Coverage With Israeli Media Mogul". Haaretz. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  10. ^ "Netanyahu Promised to Media Mogul to Stifle Adelson's Daily: 'We Can Legislate It, We'll Set Up a Committee'". Haaretz. 13 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Adelson's Paper Is No Longer Backing Netanyahu. Who Will It Champion Next?". Haaretz. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  12. ^ Gavison, Yoram (1 September 2001). "Yedioth Ahronoth group pays dividend of NIS 200 million". Haaretz. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  13. ^ "סקר TGI: דרמה בצמרת הפרינט והפתעה בעיתונות סוף השבוע". Ice (in Hebrew). 31 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  14. ^ a b "The press in Israel". BBC. 8 May 2006. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  15. ^ Wolfsfeld, G. (1997) Media and Political Conflict, p. 96 ISBN 0-521-58967-3
  16. ^ Morcos, Rauda (2012–2023). "Between Patriarchy and Occupation: Rauda Morcos and Palestinian Lesbian Activism for Bodily Rights". al-raida (Interview). Interviewed by Habib, Samar; Moujaes, Nayla. Academia.edu. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  17. ^ Weitz, Gidi (4 June 2021). "Netanyahu's Co-defendant Has Been Trying to Negotiate a Plea Bargain". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  18. ^ Popper, Nathaniel (25 February 2005). "Israeli Newspaper Brawl Moving to the Internet". The Forward. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  19. ^ Jodi Rudoren (9 February 2015). "Netanyahu Throws a Punch in Israel's Newspaper War". The New York Times.
  20. ^ Moran Rada (9 July 2008). נתניהו שילם, מה אתם רוצים ממנו?. HaAyin HaShevi'it (in Hebrew). Israeli Democracy Institute.
  21. ^ Oren Persico (10 February 2009). אצל אביגדור בחצר. HaAyin HaShevi'it (in Hebrew). Israeli Democracy Institute.
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