Едиот Ахронот: История крупнейшей израильской газеты

Israeli daily newspaper

Yedioth Ahronoth (, ; lit. Latest News) is an Israeli daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv. Founded in 1939, when Tel Aviv was part of Mandatory Palestine, Yedioth Ahronoth is Israel's largest paid newspaper by sales and circulation and has been described as "undoubtedly the country's number one paper." It is published in the tabloid format. It is known as centrist, compared to the right leaning Israel Hayom and left leaning Ha'aretz newspapers in Israel.

Yedioth Ahronoth was established in 1939 by an investor named גרשום קומרוב. It was the first evening paper in Mandatory Palestine, and attempted to emulate the format of the London Evening Standard. Running into financial difficulties, Komarov sold the paper to יהודה מוזס, a wealthy land dealer who regarded the paper as an interesting hobby and a long term financial investment. His sons Reuben and Noah ran the paper, with Noah as the first managing editor. In the first decades following Carlebach's departure Maarivs circulation greatly outnumbered Yedioths although over the years Yedioths readership grew steadily and by the early 1980s its circulation eclipsed Maarivs and therefore became the country's largest newspaper. This success was in large part thanks to the efforts of Dov Yudkovski, a distant cousin of Mozes and Holocaust survivor who joined Yedioth 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 leading editorial article while Yudkovski acted as chief editor in practice.

On March 4, 1984, a new competitor to Yediot Ahronoth was established, the Hadashot newspaper founded by Amos Shocken. Hadashot featured a large color headline and color pages, and used more innovative and less formal language. Its main target audience were the readers of Yediot Ahronot, a situation that required Yediot Ahronot to react in order to maintain its readers and market position. Yediot editor Moshe Vardi, together with Noni Mozes, led the transition of the newspaper to printing in color. Zeev Galili was 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 in Yediot Ahronot paid off, and Hadashot was forced to close after nine years of activity, after heavy losses for the Shocken family.

For his achievements, Yudkovski was awarded the Sokolov Prize for Journalism in 2000 and the 2002 Israel Prize in Communications. Moshi Vardi was replaced as editor in 2005 by Rafi Ginat. Shilo De Beer was promoted to editor in April 2007.

In 2007, Israel Hayom, a free newspaper owned by the family of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, was launched. By July 2010, Israel Hayom had overtaken Yedioth Ahronoth as the most read newspaper in terms of exposure with a rate of 35.2% compared to Yedioth's 34.9%. 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 Minister Benjamin 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 competitor Israel Hayom. This led to the opening of "Case 2000" corruption investigation against Netanyahu.

The newspaper is owned by the Yedioth Ahronoth Group, 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, a Russian language newspaper; magazines, such as the weekly TV guide magazine Pnai Plus and weekly women's magazine La'Isha; and other non media companies. Yedioth Ahronoth has its own publishing house called "Yedioth Sfarim" (Hebrew ידיעות ספרים).

As of July 31, 2023, a TGI survey indicated that Israel Hayom, distributed for free, is Israel's most read newspaper, with a 29.4% weekday readership exposure, followed by Yedioth Ahronoth, with 22.3%, Haaretz with 4.8%, Globes with 4% and Maariv with 3.9%. In 2006, Yedioth Ahronoth was the most widely read newspaper among both native Hebrew and Arabic speakers. According to one author, its marketing strategy emphasizes "drama and human interest over sophisticated analysis."

Haaretz wrote in 2021 that Yedioth Ahrono publisher Arnon 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". The paper describes itself as the "nation's newspaper" and generally offers editorial space to views across the Israeli political spectrum. Yedioth Ahronoth has been described as generally critical of Benjamin Netanyahu. A study conducted by Moran Rada with the Israeli Democracy Institute showed that Yedioths coverage of the 2009 Israeli legislative election was biased in favor of Kadima and its leader Tzipi 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. Oren Frisco reached a similar conclusion after the 2009 Knesset elections, writing that throughout the campaign, Yediot Ahronoth was biased against Netanyahu.