Haaretz
"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. 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.
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 newspaper itself has reported a paid subscribership of 65,000, daily sales of 72,000 copies, and 100,000 on weekends.
Haaretz's 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.
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 1923, 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 and held that position until 1990.
Management
The newspaper's editorial policy was defined by Gershom Gustav Schocken, who was editor-in-chief from 1939 to 1990.
The editor of the paper today is Dov Alfon, replacing David Landau in April 2008. 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. 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.
Haaretz's 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. 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.
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. Notable journalists
Present
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
Supplements and special features
All week
News, op-eds, political commentary
Gallery (Culture, entertainment, television and radio listings)
TheMarker business supplement
Sudoku puzzle
Sunday
Sports (extended)
Wednesday
Musaf Hasfarim book supplement
Friday
Extended news coverage
Musaf Haaretz weekend magazine
Culture and literature
Real estate
Local news
.