Washington Jewish Week
Washington Jewish Week is an independent community weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area.
Founded in 1930 as the National Jewish Ledger , it is mailed to paying subscribers in Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia, and is also sold at local bookstores, newsstands and vending machines. In 2004 it had circulation of 15,000,[1] including paid circulation of 13,000, and unpaid circulation of 2,000.[2]
The newspaper has won a number of Simon Rockower Awards for excellence in Jewish Journalism, including the First Place Boris Smolar Award for Excellence in Comprehensive Coverage in 2004, and the First Place Award for Excellence in Editorial Writing in 2005. Columnist Buzzy Gordon won two Rockower Awards for the paper in 1985 and 1986.
Until his death in 1993, the paper was owned by Dr. Leonard Kapiloff. During the 1980s and 1990s, by virtue of its geographic location and the quality of its staff then, it was a very influential paper and regularly published stories picked up by the mainstream press. Among its staff were Michael Berenbaum, Larry Cohler-Esses, Charles Fenyvesi, Buzzy Gordon, Judith Colp Rubin and Henry Srebrnik.
In January 1986, for example, Gordon broke the story of how then Israeli ambassador to the US Meir Rosenne was being bypassed by the Israeli government in its dealings with the Reagan administration in the Iran-Contra affair, where arms were being traded for hostages and money. The Israeli government deliberately kept Rosenne out of the loop because the Israelis didn't want to ruin the ambassador's credibility. When the Washington Jewish Week put that on its front page, Rosenne protested.
Michael Berenbaum was interviewed in 2004 about the story: "There were a series of meetings at the White House at which Meir Rosenne was not represented. That turned out to be the key to understanding the Iran-Contra story because they [the Israeli government] deliberately kept Meir Rosenne out of the loop because the Israelis didn't want to ruin the ambassador as they were raising the issues of the Iran-Contra story. Remember, they were trading arms for hostages.
"The ambassador protested. The embassy was livid. When the Washington Jewish Week puts that on the front page, it weakens the Israeli ambassador, at a time when he needs to be strong. Israel's in danger, etc."
The paper's demise can be linked to Kapiloff's increasingly erratic behavior. After he fired editor Fenyvesi, he replaced him with Renee Matalon, a 29-year-old lawyer with no journalism credentials whatsoever. Feeling threatened by experienced journalists, she got rid of Berenbaum and Gordon. Matalon, who was in over her head, lasted only a few months in the position. From October 1986 until August 1988, Srebrnik, the opinion page editor, wrote most of the editorials. Berenbaum and Srebrnik later became academics. Gordon, who had been director of the news department of the Israel Government Press Office and official spokesman for Israel's Kahan Commission, became media relations director for B'nai B'rith International and later wrote Frommer's Jerusalem Day by Day Guide.
In 2004 it was sold by the Better Built Group, Inc. to the newly formed newspaper company HarborPoint Media, LLC. As of 2006 its publisher was Larry Fishbein and its editor was Debra Rubin.
In 2010 the newspaper was sold to the WJW Group, a consortium of local individuals. Craig Burke became the publisher.
[edit] References
- ^ Media Placement Circulation Map, Publications of DC, J Media website. Retrieved on July 5, 2006.
- ^ Local Media: Weekly Newspapers - District of Columbia/Metro, The Washington Post website. Retrieved on July 5, 2006.
