December 4, 2006
Baltimore Jewish News Shutting Down
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.
"or a closer look at the activities our teens are engaging in when their parents are out of town?"
Or a closer look at
* Throwing money at the shidduch crisis and hoping that the underlying problems will go away
* Ignoring/Aiding predators
* The Agudah tzedakah system.
* etc
Warren: Bingo.
Posted by: Greg at December 4, 2006 11:42 AMGreg-
I agree with your assessment that the BJN was fluffy just like the WWW. The BJN was really reduced to PR stories surrounding organizational events and fundraisers.
The issue that I have is that given the various problems within the Orthodox community (and yes, there are some believe it or not), whether a journalistic context is the appropriate forum. Given the reluctance of the community to deal with the problems in a responsible and open way, a newspaper becomes a logical information outlet. No offense, but a serious paper where people "go on the record" is often seen with greater credibility than anonymous blogs. On the other hand, there are politics in every town which causes some stories to be toned down or suppressed altogether. I'm not saying that every story in a newspaper has to be provovative or controversial, but there should at least be some critical balance. (although what really "sells" most papers is the controversy).
So, the question is where the BJN really fit into the local landscape. What did it really add beyond the WWW? [The WWW is really predictable in terms of both the fluff and pettiness/shallowness of the letterwriters, where the issues are so "sensitive" that they can't associate their names with the letter.] That is probably why it experienced its demise.
Posted by: Dr. E at December 4, 2006 12:21 PMI, for one, am not sad to see it go. Nearly every week I would pick it up, look it over, and then wonder why the heck I bothered. There was next to nothing that served any good purpose. Moreover, there were several articles I found offensive or misguided. Good riddance. In regard to your wondering if we need a publication examining what really goes on in the community, that's why we have blogs.
Posted by: Jewboy at December 4, 2006 2:19 PMAnd what's wrong with fluff?
:-)
good frum journalism = not lashon hara, not overly patronizing or apologetic, and something that i can't get by sitting in the back rows at shomrei.
good luck meeting all those requirements.
Good journalism is one of those unfortunate goods that no-one ever wants to pay for, but it likely essential for the well-being of society. And to complicate matters further, journalism, unlike, say, unemployment insurance, is significantly worse for being government-run.
It's a quandry, all right.
Posted by: Moishe Potemkin at December 5, 2006 8:22 PM
