Israel Hayom

Israel Hayom
ישראל היום
Type Free daily newspaper
Format Tabloid
Publisher Asher Baharav
Editor-in-chief Amos Regev
Deputy editor Aharon Lapidot
General manager Zippi Koren
News editor Baruch Ron
Founded 30 July 2007 (2007-07-30)
Political alignment Centre-right
Language
Headquarters 2 HaShlosha St., Tel Aviv
Country Israel
Circulation
  • 325,000 daily
  • 550,000 Friday

(as of 2015)[1]

Readership
  • 40.8% daily
  • 36.9% Friday
  • (as of 2015)[2]
Website www.israelhayom.com
Free online archives www.israelhayom.com/site/digital.php

Israel Hayom (Hebrew: ישראל היום, lit. Israel Today) is an Israeli national Hebrew language free daily newspaper, first published in 2007. It has the largest daily circulation in the country.[3]

History

The Israel Hayom headquarters in Tel Aviv

Israel Hayom was launched on 30 July 2007 and competed directly with Israeli, another free daily. The same year, Maariv editor Dan Margalit left the newspaper to write for Israel Hayom. A weekend edition was launched in October 2009. In 2014, it was believed that Sheldon Adelson invested in total at least $50 million in Israel Hayom.[4]

Adelson's support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has led the latter's political opponents in the Knesset to sponsor a bill that would prevent the free distribution of newspapers in Israel. Framed as a bill to prevent unfair competition and save the Israeli print newspaper industry, critics of the bill said it hurts free enterprise and is a thinly veiled attempt to target Adleson and his political causes, as Israel Hayom is Israel's only free-of-charge national newspaper. The bill passed the first reading in the Knesset, but not subsequent ones.[5]

In 2016, Adelson's attorney announced that although it is commonly believed that he owns the newspaper, he does not, it is owned by a relative of his.[6]

Political leaning

2008 study by Moran Rada published in The Seventh Eye showed that while competing newspapers' coverage of Benjamin Netanyahu was "not especially fair," Israel Hayom's coverage was biased in favor of Netanyahu in most editorial decisions, that the paper chooses to play down events that don't help to promote a positive image for Netanyahu, while on the other hand, touting and inflating events that help promote Netanyahu and the Likud.[7] Oren Persico reached the same conclusion after the 2009 Knesset elections, writing that throughout the campaign, Israel Hayom published only one article critical of the Likud, and tens of articles critical of Kadima.[8]

The popular nickname of Israel Hayom is "Bibiton," a combination of Benjamin Netanyahu's nickname "Bibi" with the Hebrew word for newspaper, "iton."[9] While in the Prime Minister's office, Ehud Olmert criticized Israel Hayom.[10][11] Journalist Ben-Dror Yemini has described the paper as "endless capital with a political agenda."[12]

Market share

Israel Hayom readers on Ben Yehuda Street, Jerusalem

In July 2010, Israel Hayom surpassed Yedioth Ahronoth in weekday exposure rate in the semi-annual Target Group Index (TGI) survey with a rate of 35.2% compared with Yedioth's 34.9%. After only a few months of publication of a weekend edition, it scored it 25.7% of exposure compared with Yedioth's 43.7% rate.[13]

According to the TGI survey published in 2015, Israel Hayom has 40.8% weekday readership exposure, Yedioth Ahronoth 35.5%, Israel Post 7.7%, Haaretz 4.6%, Globes 4.3% and Maariv 4.2%.[2]

See also

References

  1. Tucker, Nati (4 March 2015). "Israel Hayom Boosts Print Run Ahead of Election". Haaretz. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 "TGI poll: Israel Hayom expands lead as Israel's most read paper". Israel Hayom. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  3. Yaakov, Yifa (30 March 2014). "Bennett lashes Israel Hayom over Makor Rishon bid". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  4. Pfeffer, Anshel (12 November 2014). "Everything You Need to Know About the Israel Hayom (Or anti-Sheldon Adelson) Law". Haaretz. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  5. Harkov, Lahav (12 November 2014). "Israel Hayom bill 'shames the Knesset,' PM says". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  6. Adelson’s attorney says billionaire doesn’t own Israel Hayom
  7. Rada, Moran (9 July 2008). ""נתניהו שילם, מה אתם רוצים ממנו?"" ["Netanyahu paid, what do you want from him?"]. The Seventh Eye (in Hebrew). Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  8. Persico, Oren (10 February 2009). "אצל אביגדור בחצר" [Avigdor in Court]. The Seventh Eye (in Hebrew). Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  9. Ronen, Gil (26 January 2015). "Media Election War: 'Bibiton' Lashes Out at 'Bujiton'". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  10. Bruck, Connie (30 June 2008). "The Brass Ring". The New Yorker. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  11. "Adelson rejects Olmert claims on PM influence". The Jerusalem Post. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  12. Stewart, Catrina (23 October 2011). "The press baron who's making news in Israel". The Independent. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  13. Averbach, Li-or (28 July 2015). "After decades, "Yediot" no longer top newspaper". Globes. Retrieved 29 November 2015.

External links

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