So these are probably fun times for media studies/journalism majors
Israel isn't a big market. Over the course of its history it's had a bunch of print newspapers, but until the 2000s, let's say, we had three main print newspapers: Yediot Acharonot (ynet online), Maariv (maariv online), and Haaretz (haaretz online, which in the past vaguely and today firmly takes the most left-leaning approach to news coverage).
In 2007 a new paper was added into the mix - Israel Hayom ("Israel Today"), a free daily newspaper that quickly became the most widely circulated by virtue of being free. It's owned by Sheldon Adelson, billionaire friend of Bibi (and Trump), and is undoubtedly the most right-leaning of the dailies.
There've been dramas in Israeli media before, but none that I can recall being old enough to understand what was going on. What's going now is depressing in a "how is this our present" kind of way, but fascinating to follow from a media studies perspective.
Of two investigations our Prime Minister is currently embroiled in, one of them is the investigation of recordings of a conversation between him (Bibi) and Arnon Mozes, the publisher and owner of Yediot, which seem to indicate a quid pro quo offering - that Yediot would give Bibi more positive coverage, in exchange for Bibi helping to limit Israel Hayom, the free newspaper that serves as the greatest threat to the rest of Israel's print journalism.
All of the news are following this story of course - TV, print, online, radio - and it's just so bizarre now, that, while knowing it wasn't perfect, my go-to news source used to be ynet (the online version of Yediot), and now of course I keep noticing how prominently (or not) they cover this story vs other outlets, and where and when they add the full disclosure that Mozes is the owner of ynet while covering the story, and more than ever I cross-reference what I read with what the other outlets have to say about it, and obviously everyone has an agenda.
I don't distrust ynet now - not any more than any other outlet, I guess - still trust them way more than some - but it's certainly a reminder that... agendas exist. Do I think this will actually do anything to hurt Bibi's status? Eh. I hope so. It might. A little. I'm afraid to hope.
Anyway, if you're interested, here's ynet's own coverage of the recently released transcripts, including a statement from the paper's editor in chief.
comments on Dreamwidth.
In 2007 a new paper was added into the mix - Israel Hayom ("Israel Today"), a free daily newspaper that quickly became the most widely circulated by virtue of being free. It's owned by Sheldon Adelson, billionaire friend of Bibi (and Trump), and is undoubtedly the most right-leaning of the dailies.
There've been dramas in Israeli media before, but none that I can recall being old enough to understand what was going on. What's going now is depressing in a "how is this our present" kind of way, but fascinating to follow from a media studies perspective.
Of two investigations our Prime Minister is currently embroiled in, one of them is the investigation of recordings of a conversation between him (Bibi) and Arnon Mozes, the publisher and owner of Yediot, which seem to indicate a quid pro quo offering - that Yediot would give Bibi more positive coverage, in exchange for Bibi helping to limit Israel Hayom, the free newspaper that serves as the greatest threat to the rest of Israel's print journalism.
All of the news are following this story of course - TV, print, online, radio - and it's just so bizarre now, that, while knowing it wasn't perfect, my go-to news source used to be ynet (the online version of Yediot), and now of course I keep noticing how prominently (or not) they cover this story vs other outlets, and where and when they add the full disclosure that Mozes is the owner of ynet while covering the story, and more than ever I cross-reference what I read with what the other outlets have to say about it, and obviously everyone has an agenda.
I don't distrust ynet now - not any more than any other outlet, I guess - still trust them way more than some - but it's certainly a reminder that... agendas exist. Do I think this will actually do anything to hurt Bibi's status? Eh. I hope so. It might. A little. I'm afraid to hope.
Anyway, if you're interested, here's ynet's own coverage of the recently released transcripts, including a statement from the paper's editor in chief.
comments on Dreamwidth.