Teaneck–Gary Rosenblatt, editor and publisher of the New York Jewish Week, a resident of Teaneck, joined his newspaper’s culture editor, Sandee Brawarsky, at Congregation Rinat Yisrael to discuss his recently published book of columns selected from 20 years of writing. The book, which is published by the Jewish Week, is called Between the Lines: Reflections on the American Jewish Experience.
With a talk entitled, “The Challenges of a Jewish Journalist: Covering One’s Community From the Inside,” Rosenblatt answered questions both from Brawarsky and the audience on a range of topics, from how abuse is covered in the community now versus 15 years ago, to Israeli politics and newsmakers, to how a Jewish newspaper often is pressured to show unity with the community rather than reporting a story’s essential truths. He described a kind of dichotomy, or dueling loyalties, in being a Jewish journalist, because while a journalist is tasked to “uncover,” a Jew’s priority is to “cover up.”
Discussing the differences between journalists in Israel and here, Rosenblatt shared how “the scoop” is often of paramount importance to Israeli journalists, while Jewish newspapers in America are often best served when they simply report the goings on of the community. He also discussed how journalists in Gaza told their stories this past summer, and criticized how many of them felt the need to always air both sides of the story. “Being even-handed is not always the way to go. Sometimes your job is to tell the reader what is going on,” he said.
When pressed on the subject, Rosenblatt expressed dismay that there are two Jewish newspapers covering the Northern New Jersey community, as his wish would be that there would be one newspaper that could serve as a unifier for the entire Jewish community. He also discussed the differences between the Jewish Week and who he views as his main competitor, the Forward.
Asked about his most memorable interviews, or who he would most like to interview, Rosenblatt said he was most taken with Natan Sharansky, the Russian immigrant turned Israeli politician, who once joked that unlike most Israeli politicians, he went to jail first. Rosenblatt also reminisced about interviewing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and described how Netanyahu greeted and answered his questions without looking up for the first six or seven minutes of the interview, without taking his eyes off notes he was working on. Rosenblatt also said he would love to interview famed American Jewish author Philip Roth.
Rosenblatt also added that after many years of feeling in sync with national papers such as the New York Times on the subject of Israel and Israel coverage, this past summer he expressed disagreement in print with how the paper was covering Israel. He received what he called fan mail, which said he proudly put up on the bulletin board in his office. “It’s time [expletive deleted] time,” the letter said.
Rosenblatt has been the editor and publisher of the New York Jewish Week for the past 20 years. Previously, he was editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times for 19 years. His reporting has been short listed for the Pulitzer Prize and he broke the story on the sexual abuse investigation of Baruch Lanner. He was educated at Yeshiva University.
By Elizabeth Kratz
