Looking Back From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History accessible at thejewishnews.com 70 | AUGUST 15 • 2024 J N The Evolving JN I learned I had two salient mandates when I began to write for the JN. First, my work must meet high standards for accuracy and fairness. Indeed, this has been the raison d’etre since the first issue of the JN was published in 1942 when Philip Slomovitz was its editor. The second concerns today’s issue. The JN has always strived to deliver critical information about Detroit’s Jewish community, as well as American and international affairs. Today, you will see our latest renovated JN (see story on page 4).We are going back to a newsprint publication. If history tells us anything, however, this will not be the last change in the way we deliver the print news in the coming years. The JN is also delivering more and more appealing local, national and international content for our growing digital audience. More than 200,000 patrons visit thejewishnews.com every month. When JN began publishing on March 27, 1942, it was a typical tabloid-sized newspaper of the era. It was published using standard newsprint with untrimmed edges, loose pages and, apart from headlines, a rather small font size. The pages were densely packed with multiple stories, announcements and other items. This format lasted for 34 years, until Jan. 31, 1987. There was only one major visual change during this period: the introduction of blue on the front page in 1984, sometimes with a splash of red. The next step in the JN’s evolution occurred after former publisher Arthur Horwitz arrived in Detroit in 1986. Soon after, Horwitz introduced a major revamp of the JN. Beginning with the Feb. 6, 1987, edition, the JN became a stitched (stapled rather than loose), trimmed publication with newsprint wrapped in a bright-white offset paper stock. Moreover, for the first time, the cover and other parts of the publication had full-color photos and advertisements. This was a distinctly new look for the JN that was largely in place until 1997. But the JN never rests on its laurels. With the Rosh Hashanah issue of Sept. 22, 1995, for the first time, the JN wrapped its newsprint pages with a glossy cover/coated paper stock. On Sept. 12, 1997, the JN introduced a totally revamped design utilizing the services of the iconic designers from the Pushpin Group, the design firm that created the iconic ‘‘I Love NY” logo that used a heart for the word love. BTW — I’m writing as the archivist for the William Davidson Digital Archive of Detroit Jewish History, which has preserved every page of the Detroit Jewish Chronicle and JN. One can see every step of their visual and content evolution in the Archive. In 2018, President Donald Trump imposed a 31% tariff on Canadian newsprint, the major supplier to the U.S. market. This cost was passed along to the JN, contributing to another stage of its evolution. On Sept. 12, 2019, the Jewish News was published on all glossy/coated paper stock, with full color throughout, and more of a standard magazine size. Today, the JN again changes paper and format for its print version. The physical version will be a bit different, but our long- standing tradition of delivering the news for and about Detroit’s Jewish community will never change, whether print or digital. We publish the JN for you and only you. Want to learn more? Go to the DJN archives, available at thejewishnews.com. Mike Smith Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT Strength in Numbers Birthright Israel — the bridge between Israel and the diaspora — builds the next generation of Zionists. See page 8 $200 July 25-31, 2024 / 19-25 Tammuz, 5784 thejewishnews.com