"With all due respect to the ratings, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has been created here" - voila! Barangay

A viral monologue by 13 news anchor Udi Segal against Prime Minister Netanyahu that was broadcast this week at the beginning of the edition marked for many of its veteran viewers, even if belatedly, a news line that has not been seen in our districts for a long time.

On the face of it, it seems that News 13 - until a few weeks ago, which was criticized quite a bit (and rightfully so) for being self-centered on the one hand and lack of achievements on the other - has been reborn as a company with a clear agenda, and a reasoned identity card.

Indeed, Segal was the swallow: within a few days, in an act that accompanied the day of resistance to the protest, the news screen was covered with the Israeli flag and the company's journalists went up in a timed campaign on the networks that included adding the slogan "free press" to their personal accounts.

Yesterday (Saturday), the peak of the campaign came, with an advertisement about Azrieli in front of the protest center against the coup.

A clear statement of intent in front of the new target audience, with an unequivocal and uniform subtext that corresponds with the secrets of the protest itself: we have nothing left to lose.

If you die, then upright.

Is this a cynical marketing act, which "takes advantage" of the abandonment of talent and the rise of Channel 14 in order to articulate differentiation in the face of the pro-bibist propaganda, or is it a real and solid world view of the company's CEO Aviram Elad - a view that waited for nearly two years in the closet, until For the right opportunity?

The swallow before the campaign.

Audi Segal

Udi Segal, in a segment from the main edition of News 13, addresses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the coup, March 13, 2023 (News 13)

"Many types of journalism"

"Throughout the years there has always been good journalism in New Ten, but in recent years the nature of the company has changed, the merger contributed a lot to this, and there was an attempt to be in a line that contains many types of journalism"

As you may recall, about a month ago, deep into the gallop of Netanyahu and his government towards the coup, News 13 lost two significant ratings anchors in one week - Ila Hasso and Sharon Gal, who although belonged to Network 13, but served as an effective "lead" every evening for the company's broadcasts.

After the initial shock, the company quickly came to their senses, and rushed to convey a message according to which this "abandonment" was actually an elegant door sign for the two, who slowly became a "weight on the channel's broadcasts", according to its sources.

Reminder: Hasson held Friday and Saturday nights for News 13, but encountered criticism from home and journalists who refused to sit on her show.

Even for Gal, the company reporters didn't really line up.

But all this is history.

A rare conversation with an executive at News 13 reveals the rationale behind the company's sharp transition.

For him, "what has changed is the reality. There is a radical change in things that are happening in Israeli society. Things that were legitimate six months ago, and today they simply aren't."

Even if he says this cautiously and diplomatically, the executive blames what seems like a loss of the company's path mainly on the merger with Network 13, and on the pro-bibist plans that the company's management has put in place.

"Throughout the years there has always been good journalism at New Ten, but in recent years the nature of the company has changed, the merger contributed a lot to it, and there was an attempt to be in a line that contains many types of journalism."

According to him, "With all due respect to the ratings, the last period is not normal, in the life of society and in the media, and is a significant and big challenge for who you are. These days we are fighting for a free press in Israel. It sounds really distant and strange, but it is real."

Two significant departures within a week.

Hasson Vegal (photo: image processing, Ido Shaham, Yonatan Zindel Flash 90)

"This is a time that I don't think the country has experienced since its founding, and for the media it is a very significant and big challenge, no matter what kind of media you become. These days we are fighting for a free press in Israel. It may sound distant and strange, but it is real. Measures against the media will also be and will come. We We see the beginnings of them."

The senior officer naturally alludes to a reform that is also planned in the Ministry of Communications, which threatens to flood the market with additional new companies, thereby further worsening the situation of News 13. The senior

official completely rejects a cynical motive for that sudden awakening, a minute after his two senior presenters - with quite a few identified viewers Kimaniim-bibists - abandoned the company.

"We were always here. We recognized the situation from the first moment, and this was reflected in more bite-sized editions, even when Hasson and Gal were part of the channel. What has changed is the reality, today's reality is not the reality of six months ago. There is a radical change in what is happening in society The Israeli media and the media, things that were legitimate today look different. The ground we are standing on has changed. A year ago you could be a journalist with a certain view and go with it. What is happening today requires all journalists to look at reality differently."

The senior refuses to answer the question of whether this was up to the news company, whether this move would have happened before.

"I don't want to give prophetic scenarios in retrospect, and it's not a one-shot either. Ayla was in the news and Sharon wasn't."

The senior also shuns the word "dumbbell".

According to him, "the word 'weight' is incorrect. Ila and Sharon were there for years and did their jobs. They left of their own accord and from the perspective of the channel and the news company, there is a critical point here in front of the Israeli reality. Ila received an offer, updated it in real time, decided to go with it. She thought it was the right step for her and she did it. That was the end of her years in the company."

"I won't go into it, I can say that in the current situation there are many opportunities for Channel 13."

"Part of the audience of Ila and Sharon went with them, and our challenge is to bring in new viewers to get more viewers to be loyal to us."

"Before the elections we were not in this place."

News edition 13 (photo: screenshot, screenshot)

"Didn't sleep at night, worried about the children's future"

"Odi Segal, a person who is perhaps the most statesman in the classical view and who is in the most central position in society stands and makes a clear opinion column with a bottom line. These are things that probably not all competitors know or want to do"

As part of the drawing of the old-new DNA, News 13 does not hesitate to point out the background of CEO Elad, a senior officer in Dovdvan and a central committee on behalf of the prosecution in the 4,000 case, saying that he sees the position as a real mission. Even in this case, the company completely dismisses claims For "missing the size of the hour" and waking up too late.

"We understand the magnitude of the task on our shoulders from the day after the elections, when the picture became clearer.

I don't sleep at night, I'm anxious for my children's future," says the senior, and confesses: "I admit that before the elections we were not in this place."

However, News 13 understands that the ticket of the anti-coup sentiment is not their exclusive domain, and also characterizes News 12 which takes a relatively critical line towards the government.

Here, too, the company recognizes an opportunity to "say things in an unstated manner", this is in contrast to the almost compulsive habit of News 12 to always maintain a "balance" even when it is not sacred at all - and at best the position of the anchor of the edition Yonit Levy is at best a double sigh after a chilling article about dystopia happening these days.

According to the executive, "Odi Segal, perhaps the most stately person in the classical view who is in the most central position in the company stands and makes a clear opinion column with a bottom line. These are things that probably not all the competitors know or want to do."

And not just faculty.

The company prides itself on small changes that add up to their perception of a critical mass that changes identity, such as the exposure of fake rolls like Alon Ben David's, a "fictitious edition" - a special project by Baruchi and the "Troll Parade" by Raviv Drucker and Sefi Ovadia and Glickman, who check in the "choice area" the fake A creep in the network and the seniors who use the media platform to get down on the media.

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Ripe rural distal

"The pike is one of our biggest challenges. In a world where the definitions of right and left may not be relevant, we are currently in the definitions of liberalism versus conservatism and we see ourselves as definitely more liberal"

It would not be unreasonable to estimate that Minister of Information Galit Distel's public boycott of the company following a column by Hila Korah - fell upon the company's management as a ripe village and played into the hands of its new image campaign.

The senior does not deny.

"The pike is one of our biggest challenges. In a world where the definitions of right and left may not be relevant, we are currently in the definitions of liberalism versus conservatism and we see ourselves as definitely more liberal."

And in the midst of all this, even when talking highly about the role of the press these days, it is hard to ignore the series of recent malfunctions at News 13, which at best indicate editorial negligence.

The wrong Moshe Hazan, a slide with incorrect data and a clip from "Star Wars" that infiltrated the company's reports are just some of them.

The senior official has a clear answer to this as well: "It was easier to get caught up with us, but there are glitches with everyone, here there was a glitch in the translation not long ago, and there is no shortage with others as well."

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