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Haaretz
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Haaretz (lit. "The Land", originally Hadashot Ha'aretz - "News of the Land") is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet. In North America, it comes out as a weekly newspaper, combining articles from the Friday edition with a roundup from the rest of the week.
Compared to other mass circulation papers in Israel, Haaretz uses smaller headlines and print.
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Encyclopedia
Haaretz (lit. "The Land", originally Hadashot Ha'aretz - "News of the Land") is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet. In North America, it comes out as a weekly newspaper, combining articles from the Friday edition with a roundup from the rest of the week.
Compared to other mass circulation papers in Israel, Haaretz uses smaller headlines and print. Less space is devoted to pictures, and more to political analysis. Its editorial pages are considered influential among government leaders. Apart from the news, Haaretz publishes feature articles on social and environmental issues, as well as book reviews, investigative reporting and political commentary.
The Hebrew edition has a core readership of 65,000. The English edition has a subscriber base of 15,000. The newspaper itself has reported a paid subscribership of 65,000, daily sales of 72,000 copies, and 100,000 on weekends.
Haaretzs readership includes Israel's intelligentsia and its political and economic elites. According to one media study, "the likelihood of Haaretz readership rises with income, education, and age." Despite its relatively low circulation, it is more influential than Israel's other major daily newspapers.
History
Haaretz was first published in 1918 as a newspaper sponsored by the British military government in Palestine. In 1919 it was taken over by Russian Zionists. Initially, it was called Hadashot Ha'aretz ("News of the Land"). The literary section of the paper attracted the leading Hebrew writers of the time. It was first published in Jerusalem, but moved to Tel Aviv in 1922, under the editorship of Moshe Gluecksohn, who served as editor from 1922 to 1937. Salman Schocken, a wealthy German Jewish Zionist who owned a chain of department stores in Germany, bought the paper in 1937. His son, Gershom Schocken, became the chief editor in 1939 and held that position until his death in 1990.
Management
The newspaper's editorial policy was defined by Gershom Gustav Schocken, who was editor-in-chief from 1939 to 1990. Haaretz is owned by the Schocken family. The editor of the paper today is Dov Alfon, replacing David Landau in April 2008. Landau succeeded Hanoch Marmari and Yoel Esteron in April 2004. Adar Primor was the editor of Haaretz English Edition from 2005-2007. Charlotte Halle became managing editor of the English Edition in 2007 and editor of the English Edition in February 2008.
In August 2006, DuMont Schauberg acquired 25 percent of the shares of the Haaretz group. This German publisher, based in Cologne, owns four daily newspapers and a dozen other publications. It is also a partial owner of various radio stations. The deal was negotiated with the help of former Israeli ambassador to Germany Avi Primor. According to the CEO of the Haaretz group Amos Schocken, the proceeds from the sale will allow the company to augment its stake at Walla!, an Israeli Internet site.
Editorial policy and viewpoints
Haaretz describes itself as broadly liberal on domestic issues and international affairs. It is described as liberal or left-wing. According to the BBC it has a moderate stance on foreign policy and security issues. The newspaper describes its op-ed pages as being open to a wide variety of political opinions. In 2001, the pro-Israel media-monitoring and advocacy group CAMERA claimed that Haaretz fueled anti-Israel bias. A 2003 study in the The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics found that Haaretz reporting was more favorable to Israelis than Palestinians, and more likely to report stories from the Israeli side. Some Haaretz readers accused Haaretz of being anti-Jewish, anti-Israel and anti-Zionist. Israeli author Irit Linur cancelled her subscription, claiming that Haaretz was anti-Zionist. The Nation describes Haaretz as "Israel's liberal beacon," citing its editorials voicing opposition to the occupation, the security fence, discriminatory treatment of Arab citizens, and the mindset that led to Second Lebanon War. Frontline described Haaretz as "the most prestigious Israeli newspaper".
Internet editions
Haaretz operates both Hebrew and English language websites. Some articles on both websites are open to readers' comments. Haaretzs policy on comments is more tolerant than that of many news sites outside Israel, in line with its belief in freedom of expression and with the policy of most other Israeli news sites. As Fania Oz-Salzberger, a frequent contributor to the Haaretz opinion pages, put it: "It is possible and important to grapple with virtual evil, but not by silencing it. It is better to do so intelligently and with humor, in the same public space where it first saw the light of day - on the Internet itself. This is because sunshine, as American-Jewish Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis said, is the best disinfectant." Others, among them Haaretz's Bradley Burston, feel that comments should be censored more aggressively.
Internet blogs and columns
- Israeli President Shimon Peres blogs exclusively for Haaretz.com
- Rosner's Domain by Shmuel Rosner, former U.S. Correspondent, explored Israeli, American Jewish and Zionist issues in the United States. His column The Israel Factor discussed U.S. presidential candidates in the light of their possible influence on Israel. Rosner's Guest featured interviews with personalities in the United States.Rosner was replaced by Natasha Mozgovaya in August 2008.
- A Special Place in Hell is Bradley Burston's twice-weekly award-winning blog on Haaretz.com.
Changes in slant
Under Dov Alfon, major changes are taking place in Haaretz, including a return to more serious journalism, a turn to the more radical left (including the return of World Press Freedom recipient Amira Hass to the newsroom) and the introduction of more cultural coverage in the news section.
Notable journalists
Present
- Dov Alfon - editor-in-chief
- Ruth Almog- literature, publicist
- Noam Ben Ze'ev - music critic
- Aluf Benn - diplomatic affairs correspondent
- Meron Benvenisti - political columnist
- Bradley Burston - political columnist
- Akiva Eldar - diplomatic affairs analyst
- Lily Galili
- Avirama Golan
- Michael Handelzalts - theater critic, columnist
- Amos Harel - military correspondent
- Amira Hass - Ramallah-based Palestinian affairs correspondent.
- Avi Issacharoff - military correspondent
- Sayed Kashua - satiric columnist, author
- Yitzhak Laor - publicist
- Gideon Levy - Palestinian affairs columnist
- Yoel Marcus - political commentator, publicist
- Yossi Melman - intelligence
- Amir Oren - military affairs
- Tsafrir Rinat - environmental issues
- Daniel Rogov - food and wine critic
- Doron Rosenblum - satirist, publicist
- Natasha Mozgovaya - U.S. correspondent
- Yossi Sarid - retired politician, publicist
- Tom Segev - historian, political commentator
- Ari Shavit - political columnist
- Yair Sheleg - Jewish religious affairs
- Nehemia Shtrasler - economic affairs, publicist
- Ze'ev Sternhell- political commentary
- Yossi Verter - political reporter
- Esther Zandberg - architecture
- Benny Ziffer - literature, publicist
- Uri Klein- film critic
- Doram Gaunt - English edition editor, food critic
- Zeev Segal - legal affairs
Past
- Natan Alterman
- Yoram Bronowski - literary critic, TV critic
- Amos Elon - correspondent, editor, writer
- Ze'ev Schiff - military and defense analyst
- Arie Caspi
- Gideon Samet - political commentator
- Ehud Asheri
- Daniel Ben Simon
- Tami Litani
- Danny Rubinstein - Former Arab affairs analyst
- Ruth Sinai - social welfare and humanitarian issues
- Ran Reznick - health issues
Supplements and special features
All week
- News, op-eds, political commentary
- Gallery (Culture, entertainment, television and radio listings)
- TheMarker business supplement
- Sudoku puzzle
Sunday
Wednesday
- Musaf Hasfarim book supplement
Friday
- Extended news coverage
- Musaf Haaretz weekend magazine
- Culture and literature
- Real estate
- Local news
See also
Further reading
- by Isi Leibler, Jerusalem Post, November 6, 2007
- by Christoph Schult, Der Spiegel, December 31, 2008
External links
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