CONTEXTUALIZING ALTERNATIVE JOURNALISM

Abstract

The article explores the ways in which the weekly Haolam Hazeh (Hebrew for This World) earned its reputation as the definitive “designated maverick” of Israeli journalism during the 1950s and 1960s. It does so via an investigation of the journalistic practices through which Haolam Hazeh constructed a first-of-its kind model of critical Israeli journalism combining a seemingly clashing mix of radical politics, investigative reporting, sensationalism, and sexually explicit contents. The self-positioning of Haolam Hazeh as a maverick publication, as well as its corresponding positioning by the Israeli mainstream journalistic community, delineated the professional ethos, inner conflicts and boundaries of that journalistic community in that era. Moreover, analysis of Haolam Hazeh's journalistic formula illuminates the dynamic and contextual nature of the relations between mainstream and alternative media.

Keywords:

• alternative media
• Haolam Hazeh
• Israel
• journalism

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Barbie Zelizer, Motti Neiger, Zvi Reich, Yariv Tsfati and the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier versions of this article. Research for this study was supported by grants from The Hubert Burda Center for Innovative Communications and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.

Notes

1. All translations from Hebrew to English are mine.

2. For an extensive discussion of HH's political agendas, see Erel (2006, pp. 57–120).

3. Avnery became a Knesset member in 1965 and Cohen became a Knesset member in 1969.

4. The quotation marks were inserted by Avnery.