metro >> upfront

ory

Our New Cover Offers A Window
Into The JN 's Transformations

W

ith this issue of the Jewish
from Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical
News, you will notice a
Museum.
modification in the way
To better match the Jewish News to
we are gathering, packaging and shar-
the demographic profile of our com-
ing information with you, our valued
munity, we reorganized and repack-
readers and advertisers. This change
aged content, stapled and trimmed
provides a window through which you more colorful pages to a heavy cover
can see the ways we are adapting and
wrap, developed and expanded special
adjusting to fundamental
sections and invested signifi-
shifts in the media indus-
cantly in local content and
try, the regional economy
coverage.
and the demographic
By the mid-1990s, the
contours of the Detroit
Jewish News was trans-
Jewish community.
formed into a hybrid
In some ways, it may
magazine with a glossy cover
appear we are coming full
containing full photographic
circle.
images. It had achieved
When I arrived at the
a unique position in the
Arthu r M.
Jewish News 25 years
Metropolitan Detroit media
Horw itz
ago, we were a typical
marketplace, possessing the
Publis her
weekly tabloid newspaper
immediacy of a newspaper
with no cover, no color,
and the shelf life of a news-
unbound and untrimmed pages and
weekly. Circulation was at an all-time
enough ink rub-off to turn your white high. Advertisers largely achieved the
gloves black. We were a hodge-podge
results they sought. A typical weekly
of local, national and international
issue was almost as thick as a corned
stories (many well-written, by the
beef sandwich. The Jewish News con-
way) anchored by obituaries, wedding
tinued to serve as the common thread
and engagement announcements and
that linked our diverse community.
Danny Raskin columns. Ad content
As we approached and entered the
was mostly a cacophony of local
new millennium, the emergence of the
retailer's messages, with many requir-
World Wide Web and related digital
ing a pair of scissors to snip a money- technologies opened new vistas for
saving coupon or score some quarters
obtaining and utilizing information.

The pace of change was brisk, but not
breakneck. Dial-up access to America
Online (AOL) was all the rage. Our
parent company was AOL's preferred
worldwide partner for Jewish content,
controlled such keywords as "Jewish"
and "Jewish news:' the web address
jewish.com and operated a Judaica-
oriented e-commerce business and
fulfillment house.
However, the shift to digital commu-
nication exploded with the advent of
Google, Facebook, other social media
platforms and the portable tools to
access them.
At the height of this emerging
revolution in communications, when
every bricks-and-mortar media com-
pany was scrambling, the economy of
Southeastern Michigan crashed and
the region's Jewish population decline
accelerated. From a projected 96,000
area Jews in 1989, the number today
is estimated to be between 60,000 and
65,000 and heading lower.
So here we are, returning after 16
years to a format with news on the
cover.
However, behind the cover, the dif-
ferences today are dramatically dif-
ferent. We are now structured to be a
24/7 news and information gathering
enterprise, with daily digital postings
fueling weekly analyses in the print

Transformations on page 5

.114 CONTENTS

April 14-April 20, 2011 I 10-16 Nisan 5771 I Vol. CXXXIX, No. 10

Ann Arbor
Around Town

Arts/Entertainment
Business

Calendar
Family Focus
Food
Health
Home
Lifecycles
Marketplace
Metro
Obituaries
Points Of View

32
26
71
56
53

86
78

61
66
83
88
1
101
51

Roundup
Sports
Spotlight
Staff Box/Phone List
Synagogue List

5
65
87
6

World/Israel

34

68
Teen2Teen .. Center Section
Teen2Teen extra
15
Torah Portion
70

Columnists

Arthur Horwitz
Danny Raskin
Robert Sklar

3
80
51

Shabbat Lights / Holidays

Shabbat: Friday, April 15, 7:56 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, April 19, 9 p.m.*

Passover 1: Monday, April 18, 7:59 p.m.
Passover 2: Tuesday, April 19, 9:04 p.m.
Holiday Ends: Wednesday, April 20, 9:05 p.m.*

Shabbat: Friday, April 22, 8:04 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, April 23, 9:09 p.m.*

* Times according to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah
calendar. Havdalah practices may vary.
Consult your rabbi.

As a tax attorney and Birmingham
City Commission member, Stuart
Sherman knows exactly why his
service as a vice president of
Hebrew Free Loan is so important.
"All day long, in everything I do, it's
about solving problems," Stuart
says. "When people come into
Hebrew Free Loan, I can look them
in the eye and make a difference in
their lives. Not only with money,
because borrowers sometimes
have issues a check won't solve. I
try also to offer the guidance and
support to help them take the right
steps to fix an issue, not just put a
bandage on it."
Stuart is quick to point out that
not everyone who seeks out HFL is
there because of personal financial
issues, "but lately, those we see
most often are the mirror of what's
happening everywhere. The great
thing is the Jews in our area truly
are a community, and we don't
leave people behind."

The Power of Recycling

Hebrew Free Loan gives interest-
free loans to members of our
community for a variety of
personal and small business
needs, HFL loans are funded
entirely through community
donations which continually
recycle to others, generating
many times the original value
to help mintain the lives of
local Jews,

www.hfldetroit.org
248.723.8184

HEBREW

FREE LOAN

hfidetroit.org

On The Cover:

Page design, Deborah Schultz

Our JN Mission

The Jewish News aspires to communicate news and opinion that's useful, engaging, enjoyable and unique. It strives to
reflect the full range of diverse viewpoints while also advocating positions that strengthen Jewish unity and continu-
ity. We desire to create and maintain a challenging, caring, enjoyable work environment that encourages creativity
and innovation. We acknowledge our role as a responsible, responsive member of the community. Being competi-
tive, we must always strive to be the most respected, outstanding Jewish community publication in the nation. Our
rewards are informed, educated readers, very satisfied advertisers, contented employees and profitable growth.

We Provide Loans.
We Promise Dignity.

The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is
published every Thursday at 29200 Northwestern
Highway, #110, Southfield, Michigan. Periodical
postage paid at Southfield, Michigan, and
additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send changes
to: Detroit Jewish News, 29200 Northwestern
Highway, #110, Southfield, MI 48034.

I, 61; k "Like' Hebrew lieu too DP.tf0

J)

Jewish
="1 Federation

of Metropolican Detroit

WE'RE PART OF THE TEAM

ise481o,

114

April 14 • 2011

3

