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No Lack
For Newspapers
CARL ALPERT SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
T
he Israel Government
Press Office has issued a
20-page pamphlet which
serves as an introduction
to Israel's daily press.
The oldest Hebrew daily in the
country is Ha'aretz, published
since 1919. It is strictly a private
business, owned and operated by
the Schocken family. It has no
party affiliation and gets no sub-
sidies from anyone. Its journal-
istic standards are high, and it is
frequently referred to as the New
York Times of Israel.
Its obvious policies lean
strongly to the right in econom-
ic matters and strongly to the left
with respect to Arab relations
and the peace process. Its circu-
lation is considered elitist, cer-
tainly not mass.
The two major tabloids, Yediot
Ahronot and Ma'ariv, have the
widest distribution. They used to
be afternoon papers, but now ap-
pear in the early morning and
compete with the other morning
dailies.
There is a running feud be-
tween the two for both advertis-
ing and circulation. Yediot is far
ahead, but Ma'ariv is putting up
a vigorous campaign and claims
to be closing the gap.
Both papers provide space for
columnists of the right and left.
Both thrive on sensationalism, ban-
ner headlines, and both do expos-
es and muckraking in the tradition
of Western tabloid journalism.
Until recent months, there
was a third tabloid, Hadashot,
published by the Schocken fam-
ily, sort of an uncontrolled "bad
boy" ofHa'aretz. Despite millions
of dollars poured into it, the pa-
per never caught on; and after
nine desperate years, the Schock-
en family finally decided to cut
their losses.and close it down.
The Jerusalem Post is well
known both at home and abroad.
For many years it was extremely
biased in favor of the Labor Par-
ty (it was owned by a subsidiary
of Histadrut) and vehemently crit-
ical of Menachem Begin and the
Likud. The partisanship clearly
carried over from the editorial to
the news columns.
In 1989, the paper was sold to
private interests and a new staff
was installed. There was a 180-
degree change in editorial poli-
cy, but the news columns and
columnists now reflect a com-
mendable balance. The Posts' im-
portance lies in the fact that it is
now the major source of infor-
mation each morning for foreign
correspondents and the diplo-
matic corps.
four dailies catering to their spe-
cial interests and religious bent.
Hatzofeh, owned by the Mizrachi
movement, follows the political
line of the National Religious Par-
ty. Further to the right, religiously
speaking, are Hamodiyah, affili-
ated with Agudat Israel; Tated
Ne'eman of the Degel Hatorah
Party; and Yom L'Yom of the
Shas Party. Each has its "line."
Spokesman for the Histadrut
and the Labor point of view is
Davar. It is admittedly strug-
gling to keep publishing, and
there are periodic reports that it
is about to close down. A second
leftist paper is Al Hamishinar,
tied up with the Hashomer
Hatzair and the Mapam Party.
It is a primary source of infor-
mation for members in the left-
ist kibbutzim.
Today, there is only one Arab
daily, Al-Ittihad, published in
Haifa. Originally the mouthpiece
of the Israel Communist Party,
it loosened its link with commu-
nism upon the disintegration of
the former Soviet Union; but it
follows a pro-PLO line, though
with a degree of critical inde-
pendence. There are several
Arab weeklies.
There are two business and fi-
nance dailies, which appear in
the evening, after the stock mar-
ket closes. They are Globes and
Telegraph, both published on
peach-colored paper and bitter-
ly competitive.
There are several Russian lan-
guage dailies and daily and
weekly publications in French,
Spanish, Romanian, Hungarian,
Bulgarian, German, Polish, Yid-
dish and Georgian. ❑
Crash Kills
Two Airmen
Jerusalem (JTA) — Two Israeli
airmen were killed when their F-
15 plane crashed during a train-
ing exercise in the Negev.
An initial inquiry found that
the crash was caused by a fire that
erupted in one of the engines af-
ter birds were sucked into it. The
plane then went out of control and
crashed into the ground.
Neither the pilot nor the navi-
gator ejected.
Air Force Cmdr. Herzl
Bodinger said the cause of the
crash would' be conclusively
known once the cockpit recording
was retrieved.
Cmdr. Bodinger said the plane
was flying at an altitude of 11,000
111
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