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| JP founder Rabbi Sholom and Mrs. Klass |
Then... at the tail end of the 20th century - along came cable TV, the VCR, the mobile telephone, and the internet.
That changed everything. The world as we knew it then no longer exists. With
the advent of these things and improvements to them occurring in near rapid
fire fashion - the only thing that seems constant now… is change. The moment
you buy one item, a new improved one comes along making the one you just bought obsolete.
It’s truly hard to keep up. And it’s expensive to buy all these new items all
the time. Not to mention the expense of data plans required to use most of them.
The most stable items of the past are now running the risk
of extinction. Telephone calls are giving way to text messaging. Books are
giving way to e-books. Newspapers are giving way to internet news sites.
As a lover of technology I used to be able to keep up on new
developments. But things are happening so fast that I can no longer do that
without spending time on it that I don’t have. Which is a bit distressing for a
technophile like me.
One of the industries that seems to be suffering the most is
the newspaper industry. Giants like the New York Times are struggling to stay
alive. Weekly periodicals like Newsweek have already conceded defeat and have
gone entirely electronic.
As it affects me and other observant Jews the idea that
newspapers and books are becoming obsolete is not a good outcome. That is because
of Shabbos. On Shabbos observant Jews turn off their electronics. It is a
violation of Halacha to use electronic devices on that day. The reasons for that
are complex and beyond the scope of this essay.
The elimination of electronics on our day of rest assures
the continuation of the publication of Seforim and books that interest the
observant reader. Like those published by ArtScroll. And it gives a reprieve from
extinction to Orthodox newspapers and magazines. My observation is that there
has never been a better time for them than right now.
Which brings me to three publications worthy of discussion.
The Jewish Press, Mishpacha Magazine, and Ami Magazine. The two latter ones having
debuted relatively recently. They both seem to be flourishing. With Ami, the
newest ‘kid on the block’ catching up to
rival Mishpacha in circulation.
These two magazines are quite modern in terms of design. With
its glossy paper, good photography,state of the art layout and graphics they are easily on par
with any secular counterpart like Time and the now defunct Newsweek. The articles
are for the most part well written… and an easy read on a Shabbos afternoon. And for the most part pretty informative.
And then there is the Jewish Press. I believe they must be
suffering a loss of readership because of competition from these magazines. If
that is true, it is very sad although understandable. It’s hard to complete
with a couple of ‘glossies’ who have some very talented regular columnists writing
for them. Like Jonathan Rosenblum, Avi Shafran, Eitan Kobre, and Emanuel
Feldman among others. They also try to cater to a broad based observant readership
including Modern Orthodox Jews by featuring articles about Rav Hershel Shachter,
the Rav, Rav Aharon Soloveichik and other non Charedi figures – placing them
all in a good light forthe most part.
Although these glossies do a good job in attracting readers,
they do not represent in any way a moderate all inclusive Hashkafa. Nor do they
have the broad representation of Hashkafos as does the Jewish Press.
The truth is that the Jewish Press is really the best of the three in terms of what really counts – content. Even though I do not always agree
with their editorial positions. The only thing missing is the ‘glossy’ look of
its competitors. But on every other level it is better than both Ami and
Mishpacha. There is no doubt in my mind that they represent every Hashkafa in a
fair and unbiased way, They feature columnists from all segments of Orthodoxy.
And they refuse to cater to the extreme right by not publishing pictures of
women. Something both Mishpacha and Ami do. The Jewish Press is definitely fair and more balanced.
It was once the object of ridicule. Especially by the right
who did not often like the way news was reported about them. There is an old
joke about the Jewish Press. Since it publishes some Divrei Torah there is a
question as to whether it may be read in a bathroom. The joke was whether it
was allowed to be taken out of the bathroom. It had been accused of yellow journalism and biased reporting. Not to mention the fact that finding the rest
of an article in the back of the paper was often an adventure when they would occasionally
tell you to turn to the wrong page.
But all that has been fixed years ago and this should be the
‘go to’ paper of record for Orthodox Jewry. I think they have the broadest and
fairest coverage of news events in the entirety of the Orthodox world. And they
have the widest variety of Orthodox opinion . Whether it is from Religious
Zionist rabbis, Chasidic rabbis, or Agudah Rabbis. I used to once in a while
have an op-ed published in their print edition myself.
Their internet edition regularly publishes my blog. Even though
I happen to know that of late they have received pressure from many Satmar
readers who object to their publishing my strong worded critiques about how
they are dealing with sex abuse in their community.
I hope that it stays the paper of record
for Orthodox Jewry. If it were to fold - the loss would be a devastating blow
to moderation. Because it would surely be
replaced by Ami and Mishpacha. They will become the ‘paper (magazine) of record’.
The last thing Orthodoxy needs right now is for Charedi values (like
eliminating pictures of women from their pages) to become the standard for all
Orthodox publications.
In a world of rapid fire change… and the push to move
everything to the right, the Jewish Press needs to stay strong and fight the good fight. We ought to do
whatever we can to keep it that way.
