Comments on: Top 10 Problems with Jewish Journalism

By: schlomo

schlomo — Thu, 18 Aug 2005 04:42:37 +0000

isnit it true that israelis are really that “shiddy liddle nation”?

sahlom

By: ck

ck — Thu, 02 Sep 2004 04:08:08 +0000

A Jewish monthly that didn’t suck? Well off the top of my head it would have to be a full color magazine, kinda like Heeb I guess. If community funding were used it would have to be absolutely no strings attached – kinda like thanks for the cash now fuck off. Otherwise it would have to be run like a business and maintain absolute editorial independence. There would be more emphasis on the things not covered by the CJN – sex, drugs, rock and roll, religion, politics etc. and its scope would be beyond just Canada.

It’s a tall order, risky and untried. It’ll never happen. Instead we’ll keep doing whatever it is we’re doing and thats that. Nice to contemplate though. And we always have blogs – those are free! And independent. No one tells me opr my crew what to write about although the JQS.com people told me today “Uhm, David, could you have maybe less exploding crotches and half naked porn stars and less swear words, please?” That was funny. Poor Dvorah (JQS’s matchmaker) – she was so scandalized…. Oh well, love me, love my blog! Heh …

By: 8opus

8opus — Thu, 02 Sep 2004 00:02:13 +0000

I dunno — I’ve read the Jewish Western Bulletin a couple of times, and didn’t find it bad at all. Kind of a homey feel. As for In Montreal, yeah, it’s a bit like a bizarre-o newspaper-cum-marketing-insert deal, but it was a breath of fresh air compared to all the alternatives at the time. Which were, let’s see…

Dave, aside from the obvious (the better Jewish journalism exists! it’s in the blogosphere!), I think you’re right. And, yeah, the time is right to try something new. So what would a Canadian Jewish monthly look like that didn’t suck? And how hard can it be to pull it together?

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 21:34:04 +0000

Is it really journalism or a ‘tribe’ newsletter? Either way, and even though I’ve since left Mtl to live in Israel, I still think it’s a really cool effort.
I remember when InMtl came out and really looked forward to reading it every month or so. It was definitely filling a void for Mtl Jappy youth and the novelty didn’t seem to wear off since it always seemed to have new material. It seems to still provide a lot of inspiring news about local active Jewish ‘youth’ that otherwise is not featured in the Suburban or the CJN.

And if no one admits that they read it then it seems that they are just too cool anyway. Eh?

By: ck

ck — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 03:07:32 +0000

Forward is more than balanced out by the New York Jewish Press. Feh!

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 01:19:42 +0000

For an example of truly appalling Jewish journalism, take a look at the Vancouver rag, The Jewish Western Bulletin (aka The Shlepper’s Gazette).

But what about the Forward? It’s pretty good journalism – does it count?

By: ck

ck — Mon, 30 Aug 2004 06:22:20 +0000

English as a second language? Like me you mean? Well… it’s more like 3rd language in my case …

By: Skylar

Skylar — Mon, 30 Aug 2004 05:16:37 +0000

Have you noticed also that many of the articles in Jewish newspapers are poorly written? Like they were written by someone who had English as a second language.

By: Ariel Beery

Ariel Beery — Mon, 30 Aug 2004 02:35:47 +0000

Absolutely. I’ve said it before on my site, and I’ll say it again: there needs to be an independent Jewish Organization Industry Mag on the internet–one that will be able to fully take on the problems in the Jewish community, and not shy from criticizing those in positions of communal power.

It’s just crazy that the Jewish press is in the pocket of the Federation–for the most part–and that no-one speaks up about it in an organized fashion.