1942-1992

THE JEWISH NEWS COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

the Jewish press. He had
worked to bring to the Jews of
Detroit religious news; local,
social news regarding children
and education; news of suc-
cesses in science, industry,
government and private life;
news of births and deaths, con-
secrations and weddings.
Concomitantly, he hoped to
make The Jewish News a
"guardian over the welfare of
our people . . . a historian of
Israel . . . a chronicle of our
time." In his view, the paper
was "the sentinel that
watches over our freedoms,

the defender of our basic
American ideals and of our
sacred Jewish traditions . . . a
watchdog over Jewry's
destinies."
He hoped the community
would respond to the news
with action and funds for the
benefit of Jews in Detroit and
elsewhere.
Mr. Slomovitz's principles
had prompted him and a few
other conscientious news-
papermen to take the lead in
founding the American
Association of English-Jewish
Newspapers in 1943, less than

one year after The Jewish
News had begun. By 1945, he
was elected its president by
some 23 members at a conven-
tion in Chicago, an office he
held until 1953.
The preamble to the
organization's constitution
claimed that the shared objec-
tives of all English-Jewish
newspapers were: "rendering
a specialized service to their
respective communities, to
America and to the wider
American Jewish community
. . . the further advancement
of Jewish journalism . . . and

the maintenance of a militant,
fearless approach to all Jewish
problems . . ."
The preamble concluded
that the Association would
promote the "growth and
enrichment of Jewish life in
America." By 1947, it had
presented a report to represen-
tatives of the National Jewish
organizations requesting
funds to raise the standards of
Jewish journalism in
America; to train journalists
and to provide for the costs of
running independent news-
papers. The American Associ-

50

ation of English-Jewish News-
papers became the American
Jewish Press Association,
gradually expanded and cur-
rently has branches in
Canada and Israel.
Imbued with such a credo, a
crusade, then a mission to
establish higher standards for
Jewish news reporting,
marked the founding of The
Jewish News in March 1942.
The premiere issue con-
tained full-page endorsements
from leading Jewish per-
sonalities of Detroit, the
United States and the world:

MARCH 27, 1992

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