Ex-antitrust chief: Tzomet Sfarim bookstore should devote more space to other publishers
Former Antitrust Commissioner and free market advocate Dror Strum says Tzomet Sfarim, one of the country's two major bookstore chains, should be compelled to devote the same amount of space to the various publishers as do other bookstores. The Tzomet Sfarim chain, which is owned by the publishing houses Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir and Modan, devotes 70 percent of its display space to books by those publishers, and 2,500 of the 3,700 discounted books are published by the store's owners, according to Tel Aviv University literature professor Menachem Perry, one of the leaders of a campaign against the role of the two big chains in the book sector. Strum heads the Israeli Institute for Economic Planning, a nonprofit that says it is working to make the economy more competitive. (Maya Sela)
With Disney World hoax behind her, suspended Channel 10 reporter to return
A Channel 10 correspondent who was suspended without pay last month after she reported what turned out to be a hoax story about an attempt to kidnap an Israeli girl at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, will be back on the air next month. It is not yet clear what kind of show Sivan Cohen, who has been the station's legal correspondent, will be taking part in, but sources said it will not be a Channel 10 News show. They said it might be a talk show or a legal affairs program and is expected to air on Friday or Saturday. It will be produced by Ilana Ziv. (Emilie Grunzweig)
Jaffa performance group to launch three-week festival this month
A Jaffa Port arts venue will launch a festival for dance, visual theater and performance for the first time this year. The three-week festival, which will take place at Dolos, will begin late this month. The force behind the project is Moshe Shechter, who used to run the Hamama, an alternative platform for performing arts and dance at the Acco Theatre Center in Acre. Artists at the festival include choreographer Arkadi Zaides and members of the Zik Group, a collection of artists founded in 1985. The festival will also feature works by students at the School of Visual Theater in Jerusalem, and will hold a conference on Israeli dance with the participation of Israeli artists and photographers Gilad Benari, Ariel Cohen and Sharon Zuckerman Weiser, as well as Ruth Ronen, a professor of philosophy and culture research at Tel Aviv University. (Elad Samorzik)
