 | |
| Format | Digital-first with quarterly print magazine; formerly a weekly tabloid[1] |
|---|---|
| Owner | Non-profit Organization |
| Founder(s) | M. J. Nurenberger and Dorothy Nurenberger |
| Publisher | Board of Directors |
| President | Bryan Borzykowski |
| Founded | 1960 (1960) (reorganized 1971) |
| Political alignment | non-partisan |
| Language | English and French[1] |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Website | www |
TheCanadian Jewish News is a non-profit,[2] national,English-language digital-first media organization that servesCanada'sJewish community.[3][4][5] A national edition of the newspaper was published for 60 years in Toronto. A weekly Montreal edition in English with some French began its run in 1976.[1] The newspaper announced its closure in 2013 but was able to continue after restructuring and reorganizing. It again announced its closure on April 2, 2020, due to the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic in Canada on its finances.[6] Its final weekly print edition was published on April 9, 2020.[7] In December 2020, it announced its return as a digital-first media company[8] with a new president, Bryan Borzykowski.[9]
TheCanadian Jewish News was founded byM. J. Nurenberger, a friend ofMenachem Begin and supporter of hisHerut party, and his wife Dorothy and was first published on Friday, January 1, 1960, and was the first exclusively English-language Jewish newspaper published inOntario.[10]
The CJN was considered a "provocative" paper into the 1970s but was later considered something of a "lapdog for the community".[11] The original CJN hewed a line that supported the right in Israeli politics and was critical of the liberal leadership of the Canadian Jewish community at the time as well as community institutions such asB'nai Brith and theUnited Jewish Appeal, the latter for its secrecy in how it dispersed money.[12] According to his daughter, Atara Beck, "He believed that a newspaper should be a thorn in the side of the establishment."[11]
In 1971, following the death of his wife, Nurenberger sold the newspaper for $30,000 to a group of community leaders that includedShoppers Drug Mart founderMurray Koffler and real estate developerAlbert Latner and was led by philanthropist and businessman Ray Wolfe.[12][13] Though independent, the newspaper has been owned, since 1971, by a group of Jewish leaders allied with what was then theCanadian Jewish Congress.[1][14]
Nurenburger soon regretted his decision, discouraged by the new version of the paper's reticence to challenge the community's establishment, and started theJewish Times in 1974, which was decidedly more right wing than CJN under its new management, and continued publication into the early 1990s.
In 1979, the CJN adopted editorial guidelines that prevent articles from criticizing the state of Israel's security policies.[12]
By 2013, it had a circulation of 40,000 copies per week.[2]
On April 22, 2013, the newspaper issued termination notices to its 50 staff and announced that it will cease printing with its June 20 edition due to financial constraints. The publishers sought benefactors to provide funding that would allow the CJN to continue as an exclusively online publication less reliant on advertising.[2][13][15]
On June 14, 2013, the CJN's board announced that it would resume publication of its print edition in August 2013 after moving to smaller offices and pending the results of a subscription and advertising drive and various changes to the newspaper's business model.[16] Among others, editor Mordechai Ben-Dat and senior staffer and columnist Sheldon Kirshner were let go.[17]
The newspaper was subsequently reorganized under new leadership, and with a drastically reduced staff,[7] beginning in January 2014, with Elizabeth Wolfe, daughter of Ray Wolfe, becoming president and formerJerusalem Report,National Post andMaclean's journalist Yoni Goldstein becoming the newspaper's editor.[18] Goldstein subsequently introduced a more diverse range of contributors to the newspaper.[19] The content of the newly revamped paper was described as "racier" and was more reliant on freelancers.[20][7]
By 2016, the newspaper's subscriptions remained mostly unchanged at 31,000, but Wolfe reported advertising and subscription revenues were enough to invest in new projects.[20]
The paper announced that it would cease publication with its 9 April 2020 issue, with its final circulation estimated at 32,000. It had suffered from financial shortfalls for years, which were exacerbated by the impact of thecoronavirus pandemic in Canada on its finances.[21] CJN president Elizabeth Wolfe stated that "The CJN suffered from a pre-existing condition and has been felled byCOVID-19."[6]
In May 2021, The CJN resumed publication once again, for the first time without a physical weekly newspaper.[22] Instead, it returned at a new website, thecjn.ca,[23] which resumed its reporting tradition. The CJN also printed its first magazine for pre-existing subscribers in March 2021, which has since continued as a quarterly.[24]
In addition, they launched a new frequent email newsletter and began several original podcasts. The current list includesThe CJN Daily, a daily newscast hosted by Ellin Bessner, author ofDouble Threat;[25]Bonjour Chai, hosted by RabbiAvi Finegold andPhoebe Maltz Bovy, a columnist withThe Globe and Mail and the author ofThe Perils of "Privilege";[26]Menschwarmers, about Jews and sports;[27]Culturally Jewish, about Canadian Jewish arts and culture, hosted by actors Ilana Zackon and David Sklar;[28]Not That Kind of Rabbi, hosted by CBC veteranRalph Benmergui;[29] andRivkush, about Jews of colour, hosted by Rivka Campbell.[30][31]
In 2024, The CJN debuted its first original audio drama podcast,Justice: A Holocaust Zombie Story, about media narratives and generational trauma.[32] The show was produced in association with theAshkenaz Foundation.
At the end of 2023, longtime editor-in-chief Yoni Goldstein stepped down and was replaced by CEO Michael Weisdorf.[33] The CJN also began hosting live podcast tapings across Toronto. Initial guests included actressJennifer Podemski[34] and sports broadcasterMichael Landsberg.[35]
Notable contributors to the newspaper have includedJacob Elbaz andJ. B. Salsberg, who was a featured columnist in the newspaper for several decades until his death in 1998; and RabbiGunther Plaut, who contributed a weekly column for many years.[36] In its final print years,Bernie Farber andBarbara Kay were weekly columnists.[7]
The main Toronto edition of the CJN had a rotating group of guest columnists: among them were academics Norma Baumel Joseph and Norman Ravvin of Concordia University; Sarah Horowitz of York;Gil Troy of McGill;Gerald Steinberg ofBar-Ilan University, as well as Jean Gerber in Vancouver, and RabbiDow Marmur and Avrum Rosensweig in Toronto.[37]
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