Adelson started a right-leaning daily in Israel in 2007 called Israel Hayom, ostensibly to challenge the established left-leaning Ha'aretz and centrist Ma'ariv. It's a similar theme to Berlusconi, Citizens United, and Murdoch I guess. Except Adelson undercut the competition by setting ad rates below market for Hayom, and also made it FREE for readers (I still don't know how Hayom balances its books with that structure though - it's not like it's online only). The paper actually has a decent staff, so it quickly became the most popular in Israel and crashed sales for the others. And like the traditional US journ. titans, Hayom's rivals have an old bloated cost structure (because they are in the business of news, not profits) and can't compete - especially vs. free.
I am not sure how the laws are in Israel, but there are actually employees at Hayom who are also paid a side salary by Bibi Netanyahu's government. Maybe they missed the memo that free press doesn't refer to the cost of the paper, but the objectivity of the journalists! Obviously Hayom overtly supports Bibi vs. his challengers, and is his personal Fox News. I wonder if Hayom's rise has anything to do with the recent shift to the right in mainstream Israel, and lack of appetite for a peace deal with the Palestinians. Bibi is expected to win the next election in a landslide.
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