New York – Billionaire and Republican donor Sheldon Adelson is being blamed for bringing several widely-read and well-respected Israeli newspapers to financial ruin.
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The Daily News reports (http://nydn.us/Qz3GQJ) that ever since Adelson funded the free, daily Israel Hayom newspaper, other Israeli newspapers such as Ma’ariv, Yediot Ahronoth and Haaretz, are being driven from the market. Israel Hayom is well-known for its pro-Netanyahu coverage.
Ma’ariv has been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy and going forward, will almost certainly publish on-line only, except on weekends. Yediot Ahronoth, which once held 60% of the market, just laid off dozens of staff members, while Haaretz is expected to lay off 70 people this month.
A senior Yediot Ahronoth executive told the Israeli daily Globes, “Yisrael Hayom has finished Ma’ariv, and it is now finishing Ha’aretz. The fact that a billionaire has come here and pours money on to the streets, destroying newspapers like Ma’ariv and Ha’aretz is an issue that has not received sufficient discussion. Adelson has simply brought ruin to the Israeli newspaper market, and the Israeli politicians who benefit from its flattering coverage have allowed this unprecedented phenomenon to occur.”
Daniel Ben-Simon of the Labor Party said, “I don’t know what his motives are, but he’s touching Israeli democracy’s holy of holies — he’s molding the face of Israeli society. Personally, I feel badly that a man who made most of his money in casinos or by means of casinos, who doesn’t know a word of Hebrew and doesn’t live here, should hold such a key.”
Both Israel Hayom officials and Mr. Adelson declined to comment.
Good for Adelson. Whilst I don’t advocate anyone losing their job, these leftist newspaper are more likely losing their market share because of their own volition.
The average person is sick and tired of reading their leftist pro-Fakenstinian, anti Israel crapelach.
These newspapers are a scourge on Israel. Their loss is Israel’s gain.
Good riddance!
This article bologna, AM New York, and Metro, aren’t killing the New York Times, WSJ, or even the Daily News and Post. (the internet might be, but not the free newspapers). Subscription fees are not the business model of newspapers, the subscription fees validate a high advertising rate because advertisers pay more when they think the readership has something to lose (i.e. Subscription fees represent skin in the game). Readership and subscriptions fall because readers are no longer enamored by the level of the content.
Bh all these liberal frum hating newspapers are being put out of bussiness adelson is amazing he gives millions of dollars to consevative groups a good way to spend his money
I am not surprise of an attack on him since he is a conservative.The leftist newspaper in Eretz Yisrael and the leftist want to destroy since he is pro Bibi and the leftist in America want to destroy him since he is give big money to Romney. Go Sheldon and clean up the leftist shmutz
Good riddance to those low quality yellow journalism rags.
The NYT wanted to become a not for profit in the US while paying their new CEO almost $10 Million.
Bunch of hypocrites
Perhaps this is why Israeli culture has gone to pot.
Funny,
when the leftist papers held sway of public opinion and were able to defame anything traditional Judaism ,none seemed to complain “” touching Israeli democracy’s holy of holies — he’s molding the face of Israeli society.”.
I GUESS IT’S ALL ABOUT WHOSE OX IS BEING GORED
Serves them right for their left editorializing. When people have a choice they don’t read that garnage, much less pay their hard-earned money to be braiwashed. The US papers will go the same way oe day.
Great News !
Let these distorters of truth and enemies of the Jewish people go under. They don’t deserve to survive.
Their twisted lies and anti-Jewish (and even anti-Zionist ) propaganda have led many astray.
Hooray for Adelson.
I hope he does the same to Israeli television.
Mr Adelson is to be congratulated if this is true. He took out liberal Israeli newspapers – long overdue. We need something like this to happen here in the US.
You would be surprised the right of the GOP and the moguls like Adelson to change society. I wonder if the more incidents we see in Eretz Yisrael may be indirectly tied to the bullying down of newspapers. It might correlate and likely does.
This is the best news I have read in months. Someone who doesn’t live in Israel but cares about its survival has engaged in a marketplace battle with the low self-esteem self loathing liberals who have held a monopoly on molding Israeli public opinion for the last several decades at least — AND HE IS WINNING. Good luck Sheldon from an admirer in Brooklyn!!!
He is slimy character and he is money is derived from slime although he has given to some very worthy institutions
this reminds me of the leftists in this country who cry about the unfair right wing dominance on talk radio and call for laws to force equal time for their liberal views.fairness and balance never bothered them when the big three networks and newsweek andtime were the onlygame in town.
In a Torah community as Israel IS; I think that a man like Sheldon should be looked at with a good amount of distrust. His enclave of humanity is not Torah and his ways are not orthodox in any parity or favor. His agenda is for the rich and illigitimate and if you are a skewed voter just for the GOP, you are not getting a positive Torah return on this guy in any sense.
Israeli democracy’s “holy of holies”. Every word in that phrase would be a joke, if it weren’t so sad.
This is from a godless government that has no constitution and that oppresses religious Jews and does all it can to destroy holiness.
Even with a separation of Church and State, the US still prints on its currency, “In God we trust”. Israel? Kochi ViOtzem Yadi, etc.
How many of the 21 commentators who have expressed their opinions so far live in the State of Israel? Do none of them know, recognize, or even remember the meaning of the phrase “freedom of speech”. How about the word “democracy”?
Their stampede to condone Sheldon Adelson’s apparent efforts to kill off Israeli newspapers with opinions or hashkafot that have the temerity to differ from his own is exactly what the Nazis ym”s, and the sheep-like masses who were so very quick to fall in behind them, did in 1933.
How quickly the American 21 commentators have forgotten that. How quickly they have conveniently forgotten the (US) First Amendment – which enables *them* the very free expression of thought that *they* would deny to Israelis with opinions other than *theirs*.
This is an obvious attempt to besmirch the man who has made siginficant contributions to the Mitt Romney and the Republicans. The lest will do anything to make Romney look bad, even search as far as israel.
This man represents nothingbut slime. prying on gamblers and his operation in Macao, China. a sterling record
#23 is correct; stifling dissent/contrarians can have untowards consequences. Hitler’s Pope lays out concordia between Pacelli and whatshisname, bottom line catholic opposition was squashed by Vatican, and lots of history happened afterwards, including catholic clergy and intelligentsia liquidated in Germany and Poland. Suppose this website decided to block stories from fill_in_the_blank branch of Torah yiddishkeit.
Sheldon takes money from unsuspecting addicts and places it in the pockets of the men who want to smear our betterment.
the left always scream it’s not fair when there is too much democracy, they have been using the press to tear away at anything holy or important to Israel for the past 65 years, and even before the state.
so a big boy is now in town showing u who is boss? boo hoo
Competition is good for all newspapers. When you have the $$$ to give away your papers and put the others out of business, that is not good business. That is taking the bread out of people’s mouths. Do not tell me that he is a charitable man!! Who will pay for these peoples rent, utilities, food, etc?? School will start and kids need shoes etc. Yom tov is coming and there are meals to think of. Don’t tell me that every employee is not religious. They do observe Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and he does this during Av and Elul!! What kind of a Jew is he really?? He is only thinking of himself and his money!! I will never read his paper again!!
No more liberal papers? You will now start seeing more papers editing out women for tznius and censoring content.
I’m no fan of Adelson’s political and financial affiliations with Mitt Romney, but competition – if it’s fair – usually strengthens journalism. It’s a shame whenever a voice is silenced. Even when it’s an opposing viewpoint.
So where is the money that Adelson is pouring all over the streets coming from? More loans from Romney’s “blind” trust? Laundered money from his Chinese hotel venture?