Publisher Sheldon Adelson said Sunday evening that his Yisrael Hayom (Israel Today) newspaper, distributed free of charge, was an unprecedented phenomenon. He was speaking at the awards ceremony of the Society for the Public's Right to Know, where Yisrael Hayom editor Amos Regev shared the media criticism award with the family of Major "R" who won a libel suit against journalist Ilana Dayan and the Tel-Ad franchise for Channel 2 television.

Adelson said that as an entrepreneur who is always attacking the status quo in business, he saw an opportunity in Israel for a free newspaper under the principle "to tell the truth in a fair way, directly and balanced." He called Regev's award an additional source of pride and thanked the society for its support.