Presence

Phil Jacobs was on Shalom USA this morning to report that the Baltimore Jewish News would be shutting down after next week's edition. Jacobs said it was purely an economic decision; the paper was losing $2000-3000 a week (I didn't hear the broadcast, so I may have some facts wrong, please correct me if I do).

It's not surprising. Although the articles got slightly less non-interesting in the past few months, the paper seemed to be suffering from an identity crisis. While the target audience was ostensibly the frum community, the articles were instead presented in a quasi-voyeuristic fashion, as if attempting to present the frum community to an outside observer. Combine that with competition from a few well-entrenched, within-the-community competitors (even if they are either complete devoid of content or 100% heimesh), and it's easy to see where things went wrong.

This raises an interesting question regarding the relationship between journalism and the frum community. On the one hand, the pieces in the Baltimore Jewish News were no less puffy than the stuff in the Where What When; but to what extent does the community need, or want, a serious journalistic endeavor examining our goings-ons? Do we really just want fluffy, feel-good, Chopra-esque spiritual mumbo-jumbo wrapped in heimieshe clothing, or do we want insightful, critical looks at our present situation. Do we want Ask the Rebbetizen, or a closer look at the activities our teens are engaging in when their parents are out of town? I think there is a place for the latter, especially in a community like Baltimore; but it has to be done with the right amount of common sense and respect.