|
| In This photo taken on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012, Israeli journalists and employees of Maariv daily newspaper demonstrate against their dismissals in Tel Aviv, Israel. Throughout much of Israel's history, the Maariv daily was known as the "country's paper," the newspaper with the highest circulation and a cornerstone of Israeli media. Now it is on its last legs, the victim, some say, of the Jewish-American billionaire who is a leading donor to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. |
JERUSALEM
(AP) -- Throughout much of Israel's history, the Maariv daily was known
as the "country's paper," the newspaper with the highest circulation and
a cornerstone of Israeli media. Now it is on its last legs - the
victim, some say, of a Jewish-American billionaire who is a leading
donor to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Casino
mogul Sheldon Adelson, also a close friend of Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, launched his free "Israel Hayom" or "Israel Today" daily five
years ago. The tabloid has steadily gobbled up market share since then.
Handed out by ubiquitous distributors clad in red overalls at busy
intersections, it has become the most read newspaper in Israel.
The
64-year-old Maariv has suffered in the fallout. The newspaper was sold
this month by its cash-strapped owner to a rival publisher. Most of its
2,000 employees are facing likely dismissals.
The
iconic newspaper has been hemorrhaging money for years and its downfall
is linked to the struggles facing print media around the globe, with
the emergence of online news sources and a steep drop in subscribers and
ad revenue rendering the traditional newspaper economic model
untenable.
But against the backdrop of a
perceived anti-media blitz by the hard-line government, Maariv staffers
believe their final blow was delivered by Israel Hayom.
Adelson's
paper recently passed Yediot Ahronot as the top-read daily in Israel,
leaving Maariv in third place, according to a survey by TGI, a leading
Israeli polling company.
Besides its
flattering coverage of Netanyahu and questionable political agenda,
critics charge that its cheap ads and deep pockets are running everyone
else out of business.
"We can't compete with a
machine that prints money and hands out papers for free," said Avi
Ashkenazi, Maariv's veteran crime correspondent. "We are the first ones
to enter the slaughterhouse but we likely won't be the last. It's only a
matter of time."
Israel Hayom's success has
raised questions about whether a wealthy foreigner has bought power and
influence on behalf of the prime minister. Adelson also has contributed
$30 million to super PACs supporting Republican candidates and has
attended major Romney fundraising events.
Israel Hayom denies the accusations and says its economic model is simply more effective.
"(We) won't apologize for our success, the readers prefer us and we thank them," the paper said in a statement.
The
loss of Maariv would leave Israel, a country of nearly 8 million
people, with three national Hebrew newspapers: Adelson's Israel Hayom,
Yediot and Haaretz, a small but influential publication popular with
Israel's dovish elite. A number of smaller niche publications, including
the English-language Jerusalem Post, also exist.
Other
newspapers have announced layoffs and popular TV station Channel 10 is
struggling to stay on the air as it awaits a request to the state to
defer its crippling debts. The station says the government, which has
deferred debts for other struggling companies, is using a technicality
to eliminate a pesky source of criticism.
Critics
also charge the government of making political appointments to Israel's
public broadcasting system, sidelining prominent critics on state radio
and passing anti-libel legislation meant to stifle investigative
reporters.
Comments by Finance Minister Yuval
Steinitz, a Netanyahu confidant from his hawkish Likud Party, captured
on tape at a recent party function highlight the animosity.
"We
are dealing here ... with a media that is not only against the Likud -
it is true, it mostly prefers the left and is not entirely objective -
but beyond that it is a media that has lost respect for one small,
simple word - the truth," he told a group of Likud activists.
Ben Caspit, Maariv's leading political columnist, has written that Maariv's blood is on Netanyahu's hands.
"The
man who wanted to go down in history as the man who destroyed the
Iranian nuclear threat could go down as the one who destroyed the free
media in his country," he wrote.
In his first
comments on the issue, Netanyahu told the Israeli economic paper Globes
that Maariv's plight was due to the "dramatic technological changes that
are affecting the written press" all over the world. He said he has no
intention of getting involved.
"On the one
hand I'm told `leave the media alone,' and on the other hand I'm told
`intervene to save this outlet or another.' There's a contradiction
here," he said.
Dalia Dorner, a former Supreme
Court Justice who is president of the Israel Press Council, said that
in France, for instance, the government intervenes with subsidies and
encourages youths to read newspapers. But in the hostile Israeli climate
it is unlikely the government will lend a helping hand to the
struggling industry.
"I hope something can be
done. For there to be good journalism, we need journalists," Dorner
said. "For there to be democracy, we need a free and varied media."
Israeli
businessman Nochi Dankner, whose IDB holding company is wobbling under a
pile of debt, this month sold Maariv to Shlomo Ben-Tzvi, the publisher
of a hard-line religious publication, for $21 million.
Ben-Tzvi
has indicated he will fire all 2,000 employees and rehire between 300
and 400. It's not clear whether he will incorporate them into his Makor
Rishon daily or keep Maariv alive in a limited capacity.
On
Sunday, a Tel Aviv district court handed Maariv a temporary lifeline,
appointing two trustees who will try to revive the paper and ensure
employees' rights. The court cited a "heavy public interest in saving
Maariv" and froze the transfer of ownership for a month.
Maariv
editor-in-chief Nir Hefetz made a front page plea the following day
asking the government and advertisers to help and for everyday Israelis
to purchase subscriptions.
"If everyone contributes their part, if everyone joins the effort, together we can save Maariv," he wrote.
Hagai
Matar, head of the Maariv journalist's union, said that just as the
government has assisted struggling factories, it should do the same to
save the newspaper. "Only massive public pressure will convince the
government that it is a public interest to save Maariv," he said.
Matar
is leading the battle to keep the paper alive and lobbying hard for
adequate severance and pension if he and others are sent home.
Last
week, he led about 1,000 people through the streets of Tel Aviv,
blocking a major junction. Following the court order, the union dropped
its threat to strike, which would have stopped publication Tuesday for
the first time ever.
Established in 1948 three
months before Israel gained independence, Maariv prided itself as a
beacon of quality journalism and beholden neither to political parties
nor media moguls. It was the nation's No. 1 paper until it was overtaken
by Yediot in the 1970s.
The newspaper has
evolved from broadsheet to tabloid and its ownership has passed hands
among a series of wealthy businessmen, including the late British media
mogul Robert Maxwell.
Yuval Karniel, a law and
communications expert at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, a
college near Tel Aviv said Maariv's near-collapse reflected the
evolution of Israeli society.
"Maariv has declined along with its readers. When we look at Maariv, we look at ourselves ... it is an Israeli story," he said.
