Algemeiner Journal

The Algemeiner Journal, known informally as The Algemeiner, is a newspaper based in New York City that covers American and international Jewish and Israel-related news.

Algemeiner Journal
TypeWeekly newspaper
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Gershon Jacobson Jewish Continuity Foundation
Founder(s)Gershon Jacobson
PublisherSimon Jacobson
EditorDovid Efune
Founded1972
HeadquartersBrooklyn, New York, USA
Circulation23,000[1]
Websitealgemeiner.com

History

In 1972, Gershon Jacobson founded the Yiddish-language Der Algemeiner Journal, after consulting the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.[2] Jacobson served as the paper's editor and publisher from its inception until he died in 2005.[3]

Der Algemeiner Journal Corporation published the inaugural issue on February 23, 1972. The ten-page paper was priced at 25 cents. Twenty thousand issues were printed.[4] Der Algemeiner Journal intended to fill the gap after the daily Yiddish paper Der Tog Morgen Zhurnal closed in 1971.[5] Jacobson had earlier written and served as its city editor.[6] The largest-circulation Yiddish weekly in the United States,[6] Der Algemeiner Journal emphasized Jewish community news, with a politically independent viewpoint, including reporting on tensions between rival Hasidic sects. Although Jacobson was a Lubavitcher Chasid,[7] according to The New York Times, he "defied easy categorization."[3]

At its peak, Der Algemeiner's circulation neared 100,000. In 1989, in response to the increasing marginalization of Yiddish in the Jewish community, Der Algemeiner Journal began printing a four-page English supplement in the middle of the paper, attracting a more diverse Jewish audience.[8]

The Algemeiner's advisory board was chaired by Nobel laureate, writer, and activist Elie Wiesel.[9]

In May 2005, after Gershon Jacobson died, his elder son, Simon Jacobson, became the publisher of Der Algemeiner Journal. He founded the Gershon Jacobson Jewish Continuity Foundation (GJCF), a Jewish media organization with the mission to serve as a voice for Jews and Israel.[10] In 2008, he reconceived Der Algemeiner Journal as an English-language publication, replacing the Yiddish "Der" in its title for "The". That year, Dovid Efune became the editor-in-chief of what was called The Algemeiner and Director of the GJCF.[11] Efune left his position in November 2021 to join The New York Sun, but remained on the board.[12]

In 2012, the GJCF launched the website Algemeiner.com.[13]

Content and circulation

The Algemeiner print edition is published every Friday, except during Passover and Sukkot. Its circulation is about 23,000.[14] It is sold at newsstands internationally and available for subscription. It can also be viewed as an ePaper on Algemeiner.com. The vast majority of The Algemeiner content is online.

During the United States presidency of George Bush, Sr., Algemeiner had among the harshest editorial lines on the Bush administration's efforts in the Israel-Palestinian peace process to roll back settlements. This perspective placed the publication outside the Jewish mainstream at the time.[15]

In 2020, Reuters reported that Algemeiner and the Jerusalem Post had published op-eds credited to "Oliver Taylor", a fabricated "reporter" whose identity could not be verified, and was thought to be "created by similar machine learning methods used to create deepfakes".[16] One of the opinion articles by this fake author called Mazen Masri, a legal scholar at City University London[17] and his wife Ryvka Barnard, a Palestinian human rights activist, "known terrorist sympathizers", which both denied.[18]

In 2020, Algemeiner editor-in-chief Dovid Efune said the publication is largely funded by small donors who support the site's message.[19]

Annual events and lists

The Algemeiner began hosting its "Jewish 100" gala in 2014, an elaboration on its annual dinner.[20] Donald Trump and Melissa Rivers headlined the 2015 event, presenting short speeches and accepting awards for Algemeiner's recognition of their support of the Jewish people and Israel.[21] The Algemeiner unveils its annual "J100" list at a gala, honoring 100 people that have positively influenced Jewish life.[22][23][24]

See also

References
  1. "Algemeiner Journal". Mondo Times. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
  2. Tzivia Jacobson, "The Rebbe's Advice on Opening a Yiddish Newspaper," Chabad.org, December2014, January 2015.
  3. Fox, Margalit (June 2, 2005). "Gershon Jacobson, 70, Founder and Editor of Yiddish Journal, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  4. "New Yiddish Weekly Launched," Jewish Telegraphic Agency, February 24, 1972.
  5. "A New Yiddish Weekly Makes Its Appearance", The New York Times, February 24, 1972.
  6. "Yiddish Journalist Gershon Jacobson, 71", The Forward, June 3, 2005.
  7. Chaim Miller, "Turning Judaism Outward: A biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, page 208", Turning Judaism Outward: A biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, p.208, copyright 2014.
  8. Elli Wohlgelernter, "Head of Yiddish paper comes 'from a different school,'" Jweekly, May 18, 2001.
  9. chiourim.com. "Allgemeiner Journal : 40 ans au service de la communauté juive". chiourim (in French). Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  10. "GJCF mission statement". Archived from the original on January 21, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  11. Cashman, Greer Fay (August 7, 2018). "In the pursuit of justice". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved January 16, 2023. In 2008, the Algemeiner was restructured as an English publication, and current editor David Efune was appointed. He is also the director of GJCF, which launched the publication's website in 2011.
  12. Robertson, Katie (November 3, 2021). "The New York Sun, a defunct newspaper, plans a comeback after a sale". The New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  13. About us Algemeiner Journal
  14. "Algemeiner Journal newspaper in New York City New York". www.mondotimes.com. Mondo Times. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  15. Goldberg, J. J. (1996). Jewish power: Inside the American Jewish establishment. Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley. p. 231. ISBN 9780201622423.
  16. Satter, Raphael (July 15, 2020). "Deepfake used to attack activist couple shows new disinformation frontier". Reuters. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  17. "Mazen Masri". Middle East Eye. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  18. Whalen, Andrew (July 20, 2020). "What's a deepfake and why exactly are they so dangerous?". Newsweek. the author of multiple editorials in the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel was revealed to be a fabricated mouthpiece for parties unknown, his image created by similar machine-learning methods used to create deepfakes.
  19. Eisner, Jane (June 8, 2020). "The uncertain future of Jewish news media". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  20. Fishman, Tzvi Allen (February 11, 2015). "Algemeiner Journal Jewish 100 Gala Honors Donald Trump, Joan Rivers and Yuli Edelsterin". Archived from the original on March 27, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  21. Shapiro, Ben (February 4, 2015). "Donald Trump, Melissa Rivers Headline Algemeiner Gala". Observer. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  22. "Algemeiner Unveils 9th Annual 'J100' List at Gala Featuring Enes Kanter Freedom, Sebastian Kurz and Pat Boone". www.algemeiner.com. November 30, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  23. "Trump Family Members Make Publication's List of 'People Positively Influencing Jewish Life'". Jewish Exponent. September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  24. "The Algemeiner's 6th Annual J100 Gala". New York Social Diary. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
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