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 Front page dated 31 March 1940 | |
| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner | Yedioth Ahronoth Group |
| Founder | Gershom Komarov [he] |
| Publisher | Arnon Mozes |
| Editor | Neta Livne [he] |
| Founded | 11 December 1939 (1939-12-11) |
| Language | Hebrew,English,Spanish |
| Headquarters | 138 Begin Rd., Tel Aviv,Israel |
| Country | Israel |
| Circulation | 300,000 weekdays 600,000 weekends[1] |
| Sister newspapers | Calcalist |
| Website | yediot.co.il yediot.com ynetespanol.com |
Yedioth Ahronoth (Hebrew:יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת,pronounced[jediˈ(ʔ)otaχ(a)ʁoˈnot]ⓘ; lit. "Latest News") is an Israeli dailymass market newspaper[2] published inTel Aviv. Founded in 1939,Yedioth Ahronoth is Israel's largest paid newspaper by sales and circulation and has been described as "undoubtedly the country's number-one paper."[3] It is published in thetabloid format.
It is known as centrist[further explanation needed], compared to the left-leaningnewspaper of recordHaaretz and right-leaning, distributed-for-freeIsrael Hayom newspapers in Israel.
Yedioth Ahronoth was established in 1939 by an investor namedGershom Komarov [he]. It was the first evening paper inMandatory Palestine, and attempted to emulate the format of theLondon Evening Standard. Running into financial difficulties, Komarov sold the paper toYehuda Mozes [he], a wealthy land dealer who regarded the paper as an interesting hobby and a long-term financial investment. His sons Reuben andNoah ran the paper, with Noah as the first managing editor.[3]
In 1948, a large group of journalists and staff members led by chief editorEzriel Carlebach left to formYedioth Maariv, shortly later known asMaariv. According to Carlebach and his associates, their reason for leavingYedioth Ahronoth was Mozes' interference in their editorial decisions. He was replaced as chief editor byHerzl Rosenblum. Carelbach is considered the most prominent journalist of his era and his and his associates' departure fromYedioth is commonly known in Israeli media history as "ThePutsch", 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.[5][6] In the first decades following Carlebach's departure,Maariv's circulation greatly outnumberedYedioth's although over the yearsYedioth's readership grew steadily and by the early 1980s its circulation eclipsedMaariv's and made it the country's largest newspaper. This success was in large part thanks to the efforts ofDov Yudkovski, a distant cousin of Mozes andHolocaust survivor who joinedYedioth 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 leadingeditorial article while Yudkovski acted as chief editor in practice.
On March 4, 1984, a new competitor toYediot Ahronoth was established, theHadashot newspaper founded byAmos 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 ofYediot Ahronot, a situation that requiredYediot Ahronot to react in order to maintain its readers and market position.Yediot editorMoshe Vardi, together withNoni 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 inYediot Ahronot paid off, andHadashot was forced to close after nine years of activity, after heavy losses for the Schocken family.
For his achievements, Yudkovski was awarded theSokolov Prize for Journalism in 2000 and the 2002Israel Prize in Communications.
Moshi Vardi was replaced as editor in 2005 by Rafi Ginat. Shilo De-Beer was promoted to editor in April 2007.[7]
In 2007,Israel Hayom, afree newspaper owned by the family of casino mogulSheldon Adelson, was launched.[8] By July 2010,Israel Hayom had overtakenYedioth Ahronoth as the most read newspaper in terms of exposure with a rate of 35.2% compared toYedioth's 34.9%.[9]
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 MinisterBenjamin 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 competitorIsrael Hayom.[10][11][12] This led to the opening of "Case 2000"corruption investigation against Netanyahu.[13]
The newspaper is owned by the Yedioth Ahronoth Group,[14] 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, aRussian language newspaper; magazines, such as the weekly TV guide magazinePnai Plus and weekly women's magazineLa'Isha; and other non-media companies.[citation needed]
Yedioth Ahronoth has its ownpublishing house called "Yedioth Sfarim" (Hebrewידיעות ספרים).[citation needed]
As of July 31, 2023, a TGI survey indicated thatIsrael Hayom, distributed for free, is Israel's most read newspaper, with a 29.4% weekday readership exposure, followed byYedioth Ahronoth, with 22.3%,Haaretz with 4.8%,Globes with 4% andMaariv with 3.9%.[15]
In 2006,Yedioth Ahronoth was the most widely-read newspaper among both native Hebrew and Arabic speakers.[16]
According to one author, its marketing strategy emphasizes "drama and human interest over sophisticated analysis."[17]
In 2003, the co-founder ofAswat, 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.[18]
Haaretz wrote in 2021 thatYedioth Ahronoth publisherArnon 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".[19]
The paper describes itself as the "nation's newspaper" and generally offers editorial space to views across the Israeli political spectrum.[16]The Forward has described Yedioth Ahronoth as centrist compared to the right-leaningMa'ariv and left-leaningHa'aretz.[20]
Yedioth Ahronoth has been described as generally critical ofBenjamin Netanyahu.[21] A study conducted by Moran Rada with theIsraeli Democracy Institute showed thatYedioth's coverage of the2009 Israeli legislative election was biased in favor ofKadima and its leaderTzipi 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.[22] Oren Frisco reached a similar conclusion after the2009Knesset elections, writing that throughout the campaign,Yediot Ahronoth was biased against Netanyahu.[23]
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