Writers On Strike, With An Assist from Obama
Forgive us if we in the Forward newsroom are paying a little bit of extra attention to the Writers Guild strike. We’re union members ourselves, and the whole brouhaha has our favorite celebrities going all lefty on us: SNL’s Tina Fey and Seth Myers are uptown picketing at Rockefeller Center; Jon Stewart may or may not be keeping his own writers afloat with out-of-pocket payments for the next two weeks.
Barack Obama, meanwhile, has weighed in with statement in support of the writers:
“I stand with the writers. The Guild’s demand is a test of whether corporate media corporations are going to give writers a fair share of the wealth their work creates or continue concentrating profits in the hands of their executives. I urge the producers to work with the writers so that everyone can get back to work.”
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
