WSJ: Like BuzzFeed, the Forward Has Made Some Tough Calls
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
BuzzFeed has attracted a lot of criticism for its decision to publish an unverified memo about President-elect Donald Trump’s purported ties with Russia and sexual behavior there.
But as Seth Lipsky wrote Friday in The Wall Street Journal, it’s hard to know what the website, as a relatively minor upstart in the journalism world, should have done. Lipsky would know a thing or two about that situation, as the first editor of the English Forward.
He draws on that experience in his op-ed, writing about a time when he struggled over whether to publish a story from reporter David Twersky about the Bush family’s ties to Middle Eastern countries. As Lipsky recounts, some of the sourcing behind the piece was questionable, gossip even. But he ran it because he figured it was the kind of break the Forward needed.
Here’s a list of some other tough calls the Forward has made:
“Richard Joel Scores $1.6M Payout Amid Deep Yeshiva Fiscal Crisis” by Paul Berger.
“In Iowa Meat Plant, Kosher ‘Jungle’ Breeds Fear, Injury, Short Pay” by Nathaniel Popper.
“I’m a Jew, and I’m a Member of the ‘Alt-Right’” by Joshua Seidel.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter, @DanielJSolomon
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
