Yudkovsky, Dov

views updated

YUDKOVSKY, DOV

YUDKOVSKY, DOV (1923– ), Israeli journalist. Born in Poland, Yudkovsky spent 33 months in Auschwitz from where he escaped twice, in each case being recaptured. He reached Palestine, where his cousin, Yehudah *Mozes, publisher of *Yedioth Aharonoth, made him head of the newspaper's Jerusalem office. After the so-called putsch in which Dr. Azriel *Carlebach, the editor, and most of the newspaper's staff left to found the new newspaper *Maariv, Mozes appointed Yudkovsky the paper's news editor, and in 1953 managing editor for news. Yudkovsky conceived the newspaper as "the people's newspaper," and notwithstanding its tabloid appearance, filled it with editorial content of interest also to readers from the professional classes. By the mid-1970s Yedioth Aharonoth had taken the lead in the circulation war with Maariv, credit for which went partly to Yudkovsky's news editorship. In 1984 Yudkovsky was appointed by publisher Noah Mozes one of the newspaper's two directors. But after Arnon ("Noni") Mozes became the publisher following the death of his father, Noah, and sought to centralize his control, Yudkovsky was dismissed in 1989. He then represented the Israeli interests of British media mogul Robert *Maxwell, who appointed him editor-in-chief of Maariv. Regarding Maariv as a somewhat dull, middle-class newspaper, Yudkovsky sought to liven it up by installing an ultra-modern color press. In 1992 he left the paper and became one of the founders of Koteret, a private college situated in Tel Aviv for journalism training. In 2000 he won the Sokolow prize for journalism and in 2003 the Israel Prize in media.

[Yoel Cohen (2nd ed.)]