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The Philadelphia Jewish VoiceThe Delaware Valley's Progressive AlternativeVolume 1 - Number 1 - July 2005 |
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The Philadelphia Jewish VoiceThe Delaware Valley's Progressive AlternativeVolume 1 - Number 1 - July 2005 |
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Philadelphia Now Has a New Jewish VoiceThe old joke says that there are two Jewish newspapers in Philadelphia: The Forward and The Backward. Indeed, all of us at The Philadelphia Jewish Voice are frustrated with the brazen conservative bias at The Jewish Exponent. It is understandable that the Jewish Exponent should have a Jewish bias, a pro-Greater Philadelphia bias, a pro-Israel bias, and a pro-Federation bias. We understand and support this in the Jewish Exponent, and we intend for own writing to reflect this same bias. However, we are shocked by the conservative pro-Republican bias. While The Jewish Exponent is wholly owned by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia (and indeed $36 of your charitable contributions go each year to support The Jewish Exponent), we feel it does not reflect the views of the majority of the Philadelphia Jewish community. Many of us have turned to New York's Forward to fill in the gaps in The Jewish Exponent's coverage. The Forward is a great newspaper, but it is a New York paper, and our community deserve its own coverage: The Philadelphia Jewish Voice. -- Daniel E. Loeb, publisher What is the Philadelphia Jewish Voice?We are concerned Jews in the Philadelphia area who feel that a prominent progressive point of view is needed to
offset the relentlessly conservative
editorial stance of the Jewish Exponent. The 85% of Jews who do not consider
themselves conservative (in a political sense, that is) need to see their
ideas in print as well.
We are loyal to the ideal of a free and safe Jewish homeland in Israel. We are also loyal to America and its founding ideals. And we believe that both fealties are consistent with the liberal construct of openness, liberty, fairness and concern for the less fortunate, as well as with the Jewish concepts of tikkun olam and gemilut chasadim. We think these are too often honored in the breach in the columns of the Exponent. We do not believe that the future of Israel is contingent on a blind endorsement of anything its current administration � or any administration � does. We feel the same way about the U.S. This attitude should not be confused with an autonomic hatred of either administration, as is often the plaint thrown back at dissent. This is about politics, not personalities. Reasoned, dispassionate disagreement is the goal. Furthermore, we are intent on our own obsolescence. Should the Exponent become the reflective and balanced journal that it can be, that it once was, we will be delighted to cease publication. But if it continues to chart an aggressive and ditto-headed course of being a Xerox sheet for the far right�s platform, we will unfortunately be needed. There are too many disjunctions between today�s Republican party and today�s Jews, and too many risks in aligning ourselves with the conservative Christian agenda, to allow the Exponent to be the paper of record for Philadelphia�s vibrant and diverse Jewish population. It has choked off the voices of a large portion of its constituency, and that�s why the PJV is here. -- Neil Greenberg, editor |
Features in this IssueTHE EXPONENT WATCHPOST: Our analysis of the latest examples of conservative bias in The Jewish Exponent.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Each issue will feature a prominent politician speaking directly to our readers on issues of concern to the Jewish community.
LIVING JUDAISM: Feature focused on Jewish Spirituality, Meaning and Activism with invited columns written by Rabbis belonging to the various movements of Judaism.
Upcoming FeaturesNETWORKING CENTRAL / PROGRESSIVE GROUP OF THE MONTH CORNER: We all probably have other good ideas how to make use of our money and time to advance worthy endeavors. We plan to include in the Exponent Watch newsletter a regular section that would highlight a new local group each month in order to encourage networking. Upcoming featured groups may include The Jewish Relief Agency, Ameinu, Grassroots for America, CeasefirePA, ... LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Write us. We want your feedback whether positive or negative. Representative letters will be published. COMMUNITY CALENDAR: Send us details to be included on our website calendar and in the AROUND OUR COMMUNITY section. Birthday BashMeet our dedicated columnists in person. Enjoy good company, snacks and political humor on our projection screen.
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Reader's GuideIn order to keep The Philadelphia Jewish Voice free, the Philadelphia Jewish Voice is written by a dedicated all-volunteer staff and distributed over the internet in order to avoid overhead, production and distribution costs. Most readers are more familiar with conventional print newspapers. Here is your "instruction manual" to get the most out of your Philadelphia Jewish Voice.
AboutExponent Watch is a group of one hundred and fifty members of the Jewish Community in Greater Philadelphia united by our concern about the right-wing bias of the Federation's newspaper The Jewish Exponent.
Help WantedThe Philadelphia Jewish Voice is a group effort and we need your help. Please contact at the email addresses above to volunteer. We especially need:
Copyleft � 2006. Permission is hereby granted to redistribute this issue of The Philadelphia Jewish Voice or any of the articles therein in their full original form provided this rights conveyed to the reader and subscription information to The Philadelphia Jewish Voice is provided. Please contact us for any other use. |
* Front Page * Exponent Watchpost * In Their Own Words * Around Our Community * Living Judaism * U.S. Political News & Op/Ed *