;
Ed.tor's
Letter
take
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The JAI's Unique Role
T
he content has changed but the reason for being
hasn't. For 67 years, the news and commentary that
make up the Jewish News have informed the Detroit
Jewish community like no other source.
We link the broad and diverse expanse of Jewish Detroit
through the multilayered coverage we provide in print and
online. In this regard, we're a vital component of who Detroit
is and what we represent as a community. The 2005 Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
population study revealed that the IN
touches more than 80 percent of the
Jewish community it serves.
We're mighty proud of the role we
play. We don't take it lightly.
We tinker continuously with our print
content and design to keep them fresh
and inviting. We've also taken significant
strides along the winding pathway that
is the World Wide Web. In fact, I share
this self-assessment with you today as
we plan to relaunch JNonline.us over the
next two months with an interactive digital edition and a com-
munity-focused Web site. The Web site will include a community
forum with discussion boards, blogs, polls and event calendars.
It also will boast photo galleries that
you can download or print from as well
as a revamped community directory.
Watch for updates on the online excite-
ment we hope to stir, including sneak-
peek opportunities. But know these
C
Web enhancements will supplement
our popular print products, not replace
them. Industry trends aside, we have no
plans to stop publishing the Jewish News
each week.
Though we've shrunk in population
over the last 20 years, Detroit Jewry con-
tinues to provide national models for
fundraising, eldercare services and life-
long learning. In some communities, the
Jewish federation and the Jewish news-
:7417,17-
paper are at odds. Here, the circum-
stances are different. Federation and the
Jewish News share more than a common
audience. We respect each other's independent roles, but also
work diligently as partners for the good of the community.
community. The sweep of the interplay among our communal,
religious and organizational sectors keeps our community
humming and ever-changing.
Against this dynamic backdrop, the print version of the IN,
which is welcomed into thousands of Metro Detroit homes
each Thursday, may be the unifying link that girds us as a real
community.
Connecting The Pieces
While the Web in general, and JNonline in particular, can
provide large quantities of information of varying quality, it
is still the IN that makes all parts of the community feel and
act as one. But the number of ads sold dictates the size of each
issue. So buying local on a regular basis benefits our advertis-
ers and enlarges our news hole. With gusto, our staff attacks
the panoply of possibilities and assembles the weekly jigsaw
puzzle of local, national and international content. We agonize
over the balance between news generated here, like the impact
of Michigan's economy on Jewish life, and news affecting Israel,
like nagging questions surrounding the relationship between
Washington-based CAIR (Council on American-Islamic
Relations) and a U.S.-based llamas support network.
We strive to not just inform, but also challenge and enlight-
en. As a niche publication, we're part of the community we
cover. We don't swoop in and out as news
flows and ebbs.
We're a pillar of the Detroit Jewish com-
munity for the long haul.
Rabbi Eric Grossman, head of school
at the Frankel Jewish Academy in West
Bloomfield, unwittingly underscored that
point in a pre-Purim conversation with IN
Publisher Arthur Horwitz.
Grossman has lived in various com-
munities, including Boston, Toronto and
Detroit. In each community, he has led
many Shabbatot — Shabbat retreats — for
teenagers. One of the activities they do is
a game wherein all of the community's
Jewish communal assets are listed on sepa-
rate cards. The teens are asked to select the
three cards they consider the community's
bedrock — the must-haves. Only in Detroit
is the Jewish newspaper — the Jewish
News — always one of the three bedrock cards selected.
That's telling.
It also heightens the standards for us in how we mix and
match content in hopes of hitting home runs amid the wide-
ranging concerns, interests and needs of our amazing com-
munity. Some readers condemn the same story that others
applaud. That's what drives us and keeps us hopping; this con-
stant churn guards against our growing complacent.
All of which is why the weekly JN, the cornerstone of our
products, is so vital and deserving of advertiser, reader and
communal support. We appreciate that loyalty very much
— and require it to stay vibrant.
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Our Expanding Base
Given the number of people who read our print and online prod-
ucts, it's a slam-dunk to say we now provide unique content to
more readers than ever in our storied history. Young families of
former Detroiters in Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., and
Los Angeles as well as retirees in Arizona, California and Florida
stay linked to their hometown Jewish community through
JNonline. Many of these IN fans also choose to receive the actual
newspaper via mail despite a higher out-of-state rate.
Strong interest out-of-state in what we write about in the
weekly IN, on JNonline and in our two monthly publications,
Platinum and Teen2Teen, is a remarkable tribute to the attrac-
tion our community maintains, even among Jewish Detroiters
who live elsewhere. We may be only the 21st-largest U.S. Jewish
community in terms of population, but let there be no mis-
take: We rock when it comes to defining what it means to be a
CHROME HEARTS
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Is the Jewish News integral to your
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March 19 . 2009
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