 | |
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | Mid-Atlantic Media, LLC |
| Founder | David Alter |
| Publisher | Craig Burke |
| Editor | Carin M. Smilk |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Headquarters | 11459 Cronhill Drive, Suite A, Owings Mills, MD 21117 |
| Circulation | 10,000 |
| Sister newspapers | Washington Jewish Week |
| ISSN | 0005-450X |
| OCLC number | 42077559 3981984; 42077559 |
| Website | jewishtimes.com |
TheBaltimore Jewish Times is a weekly newspaper aimed at theJewish community ofBaltimore.
The newspaper was founded in 1919 by David Alter, and at one time it was the largest Jewish publication in the country.[1] Alter built a seven newspaper chain, but only two survived theGreat Depression, including theBaltimore Jewish Times.[2]
In 1972, the paper was taken over by Charles "Chuck" Buerger, the grandson of the founder, and in 1974 he was joined by Gary Rosenblatt as editor.[3][4] The two expanded the scope of the paper's coverage, as well as the size; in the 1980s the paper regularly exceeded 200 pages, and circulation peaked at over 20,000. In the 1980s the two also acquiredThe Detroit Jewish News andThe Atlanta Jewish Times, which were given similar makeovers.[2][5]
Rosenblatt left in 1993 to become editor ofNew York'sThe Jewish Week.[3] Buerger started thePalm Beach Jewish Times in November 1994, and aBoca Raton/Delray Beach edition in August 1996.[6]
Buerger died in 1996, and the paper was taken over by his son Andrew.[7][4] In 1998 Andrew Buerger sold off theFlorida newspapers,[6] and in 2000 he sold theDetroit andAtlanta papers to Jewish Renaissance Media.[8]
Phil Jacobs, a Baltimore native and formerJewish Times reporter who had been serving as editor of the Detroit paper, was named Executive Editor of theBaltimore Jewish Times in 1997. During his tenure, the paper published a series of investigative reports on child molestation by members of the rabbinate, and revealed that he had been molested himself as a child. The series won critical acclaim, but also outrage from some members of the Orthodox community, who disputed some of the accusations made. Jacobs' experience writing the series and living through the controversy it raised in his community was chronicled inStanding Silent, a 2010 documentary film by director Scott Rosenfelt (producer ofMystic Pizza andHome Alone, among others).[9]
Jacobs left theBaltimore Jewish Times in June 2011 to become editor ofWashington Jewish Week.[9] Andrew Buerger then became editor and publisher, and runs the publication's former parent company, Alter Communications, which also produces ''Baltimore STYLE'' magazine and a number of custom publications.[4]
In 2011, theBaltimore Jewish Times underwent a major redesign and became more magazine-like, with coated glossy stock, a smaller page size and more color photography and graphics. In 2012, the publication was sold at bankruptcy auction and purchased by Route 95 Publications LLC, owner of the Washington Jewish Week.[10]
In 2006 theBaltimore Jewish Times won a 2005Simon Rockower Award for Excellence in News Reporting and Writing about Scientific and Technological Innovation Out of Israel from theAmerican Jewish Press Association.[11] The paper won six Simon Rockower Awards in 2020,[12] one in 2021,[13] and another two in 2022.[14] In 2023, the American Jewish Press Association awarded theBaltimore Jewish Times one Rockower Award.[15]
