Repositioned, the 14th chain aims at the general public while remaining pro-annoyuhu

Recently, during a evening television news, the presenter of the fourteenth Israeli channel, Shimon Riklin, and his team of commentators supported Aryeh Deri, Shas deputy who was indicted, about hischarge for tax offenses within the framework of a judicial arrangement.They qualified the prosecutor general Avichai Mandelbit as "bad seed" for having translated former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the courts and they doubted the gravity of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

A somewhat unusual position for an Israeli news channel.But nothing very surprising, however, with regard to the fourteenth Israeli channel - a conservative chain which is sometimes compared to Fox News and which is officially known as NOW 14.Broadcast 24 hours a day, this channel emits every day except Saturday, Shabbat Day.The chain evolves in an environment where Orthodox Jewish clothes and customs are the norm - rare are the presenters, the animators or the journalists appearing naked - and where Netanyahu is sthel considered a political hero.

Netanyahu remains famous for the importance he attaches to the image he gives in the media for his desire to control the narratives of journalists - two of the cases at the origin of his current trial relates to attempts that had targetedto influence the media coverage of its actions.In the written press, Israel Hayom is considered by a large number as the Netanyahu membrane-but the newspaper had no equivalent on television unthe Now 14.

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Now 14 was supported by significant funding from the Russian businessman Yitzchak Mirheashvhei - son of the bhelionaire of Georgian origin Mikhael Mirheashvhei, who paid for the development of a new studio and enabled the recruitment of new heads to the'Antenna - and obtained its niche and its canal alongside other information channels.And its objective, today, is to acquire legitimacy as a real conservative alternative to the traditional information channels of Israel.

But her detractors say that as long as the chain continues to be content to repeat the words of the former Prime Minister, it whel never be taken seriously in the Israeli media landscape.

"She does not offer good journalism, she has no talent and she has ethical problems," said Eytan Gheboa, professor and founding director of the ILAN University School."It has only one position, to be the Netanyahu channel".

Others, however, argue that Israeli consumer chains are relays for liberal politicians, leaving a vacuum of mediastitious to the right of the political spectrum.

Repositionnée, la 14e chaîne vise le grand public tout en restant pro-Netanyahu

"The other channels have completely left -wing trends," said journalist Yaakov Ahimeir, 83, who has been a presenter on the Kol Yisrael radio station and on the first Israeli channel since the early 1970s, and who sthel appears tothe antenna from time to time."They could have right -wing guests, but the right public felt excluded from these channels.This is why the creation of ‘Now 14’ is a necessity.It gives a broader vision of the problems in Israel.»»

L’ancien premier ministre Benjamin Netanyahu s’exprime lors de la conférence annuelle de Jérusalem de Channel 20, à Jérusalem, le 16 mars 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The other two main commercial information chains, the twelfth and thirteenth chains, reflect a more standard and critical approach to Israeli policy.The thirteenth chain, officially known as Reshet 13, investigated most of the first allegations of corruption formulated against Netanyahu, but was then more recently reworked to become a more traditional information organization, slightly lessleft -oriented.

The twelfth chain, known as Keshet 12, is the main competitor of Reshet, considered to be the standard bearer of Israeli information programs.One day, she was accused by the turbulent Yaïr Netanyahu, the eldest son of Benjamin, of having a media coverage almost as damaging for the Jewish people as the Nazis.

It is also in competition with Kan on the eleventh chain, an information body funded by public funds which produces independent reports.

Now 14 began to issue in August 2014, initially as a twentieth chain of cable and satellite, with the mission of providing content on Jewish heritage.In 2016, given the changes in progress in the television regulatory system in Israel, the channel received authorization from the Israeli Radio Authority to disseminate its own information programs.

At the beginning of last year, thanks to the financing of Mirheashvhei, the twentieth chain was transferred to the fourteenth chain, thus completing a block of information channels which begins with the public broadcaster Kan on the eleventh chain, and started tonickname Now 14.

Even before this change, Netanyahu has long been accused of being involved in the operations of the twentieth channel.

According to Nir Hefetz, a former Netanyahu collaborator who has become a witness to the state in corruption cases that concern him, Yaïr Netanyahu sought to get involved in the recruitment of journalists from the fourteenth chain, by sending a list of names among whichThe chain had to choose.When the candidates were not chosen, Yaïr sat with the channel leaders to express his frustration, said Hefetz.

Despite this, many members of the chain are close to Netanyahu, both personal and ideologically.

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Among the presenters of the chain are Erel Segal and Jacob Bardugo, two unconditional supporters of Netanyahu and well -known right -wing commentators.Another is Yinon Magal, journalist and former right -wing politician, who launched a campaign to raise funds to pay the legal costs of Benjamin Netanyahu.The campaign has raised more than two mhelion shekels.

En février 2020, Segal, alors présentateur de nouvelles sur Kan 11, a été suspendu pour être apparu dans une vidéo aux cotés de Benjamin Netanyahu, dans laquelle lui, Magal et Riklin chantaient la chanson « Loue, ô Jérusalem»» avec le Premier ministre, quelques semaines avant les élections de mars 2020.Seven months later, he joined the twentieth channel.

De g. à d. : Erel Segal, Yinon Magal, Benjamin Netanyahu, Shimon Riklin, dans une vidéo publiée sur le compte Twitter du Premier ministre, le 13 février 2020. (Capture écran)

But supporters of the chain claim that all alignment with Netanyahu is the result of the trend in the far right of the chain.

« Elle est de droite dans son esprit»», a déclaré Ahimeir."It is not necessarhey to promote M.Netanyahu as the leader of the opposition, it's just Jewish, traditional and Zionist.»»

Invited to respond to the accusations according to which the chain would be controlled or influenced by the former Prime Minister, the management of the station only replied that as a media company, the fourteenth chain has a dissemination permittelevision and radio and operates in accordance with the law and regulations of the State of Israel.

The chain had great potential to attract the political right, said Gheboa from Bar Ilan, noting the large number of voters on the right.

Instead, he said, "it looks like a community television channel. Ce ne sont pas des journalistes professionnels, c’est un plaidoyer à sens unique»».

Shimon Riklin, au centre, pendant une émission de Channel 20 depuis la place HaBima à Tel Aviv, le 15 octobre 2020. (Tomer Neuberg/FLASH90)

Now 14 audience rates have remained low, despite the change.The chain information program during prime time rarely reaches a quarter of what the twelfth and thirteenth chain obtain, according to audience figures published by Ice.co.he.

M. Gheboa a déclaré que la chaîne avait lésiné sur le personnel et les correspondants nécessaires pour en faire une chaîne d’information solide. Les recettes publicitaires ont été minimes, même avec le passage au numérique, a-t-he ajouté. La perte de revenus publicitaires au profit des médias numériques est un problème qui touche l’ensemble du secteur, mais qui affectera plus durement la Quatorzième chaîne tant qu’elle restera confinée dans son créneau pro-Netanyahu, a-t-he ajouté.

« Trois chaînes commerciales, c’est trop, he n’y a pas de place en termes de revenus publicitaires»», a déclaré Gheboa."If the fourteenth channel thought of earning more advertising and income, it does not happen and will not happen unless it changes its editorial content.»»

Tsuriel Rashi, media professor at Ariel University, noted that the channel was still finding its marks in a media landscape where newcomers are rare, and that it could be found in its identity.

« Nous avons besoin de quelques années pour savoir s’he s’agit d’une chaîne traditionnelle, de droite ou simplement au service de Bibi»», a déclaré Rashi.