NY Times, Meretz In Content-Sharing Agreement

“Technically, it would be more democratic if we focused on Israelis, but politics is the art of compromise,” acknowledged MK Ilan Gilon.

Tel Aviv, July 18 – A leading news and opinion powerhouse has joined forces with like-minded figures on Israel’s political scene, and will devote some of its online and print space to giving those figures a voice in exchange for the Israeli group distributing material the media company seeks to give exposure.

The New York Times inked an agreement with Israeli political party Meretz this morning, under which the Times website and print editions will contain daily opinion and analysis by figures from Meretz and those whose views Meretz endorses, and Meretz will include select New York Times content in mailings, tweets, and other materials directed at its constituency. The arrangement is officially scheduled to begin August 1, but representatives of both parties acknowledged it has de facto been in place for close to twenty-five years.

“It is good to finally reach a formal framework for this exchange of materials,” declared NY Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzburger Jr. “To date everything has been handled on an ad hoc basis, following the various policies the Times has for the publication of outside pieces. Over the years the overlap between the editorial mindset and assumptions here and in Meretz has only increased, and it makes sense to consolidate and leverage our assets in this respect, albeit in a limited capacity.”

“We’re looking forward to this,” gushed MK Zehava Gal-On, Chairwoman of Meretz. “Our audience in Israel is limited, both by the simple fact of a lower population here, and by the simple fact of our ideology and the policies we support being deeply unpopular. A consistent, programmatic context for our voice to be articulated in the august pages of the New York Times is exactly what we need to find a larger sympathetic audience.”

“Technically, it would be more democratic if we focused on Israelis, but politics is the art of compromise,” acknowledged MK Ilan Gilon. “Since we can’t get our beloved projects and vision implemented by strictly democratic means – I mean, when was the last time Meretz sat in a government? – we have to engineer international pressure on the government in favor of our view. This formal channel for reaching like-minded people in the Times readership can go a long way toward laying the right groundwork.”

“Remember, we on the left, especially in Meretz, are the true guardians of democracy,” he continued. “That being the case, our next natural ally for this kind of deal is the Washington Post.”

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