By Ted Belman
There are worrying rumors of managerial dementia at the Jerusalem Post according to which the paper is about to discontinue the outstanding column, INTO THE FRAY by Dr. Martin Sherman.
In my opinion his column was one of the most widely read and respected on the pages of the JPost or any where for that matter. To discontinue it would show a blatant lack of respect for its readership and utter disdain for readers’ preferences.
Sherman has a large following and many of his avid readers, I would imagine, buy the JPost largely because of his column. I would not be surprised if many of them stop buying the paper in protest.
His column provided penetrating insights into current events and creative policy prescriptions which generated lively and constructive debate in a large segment of the Anglo-Saxon Jewish community, both in Israel and the Diaspora, and with many non-Jewish readers with an interest in the developments. Martin Sherman is in a class by himself when it comes to his understanding of the problem Israel is faced with and his prescription for solving it.
There is little doubt that cutting of Sherman’s column will be a tremendous blow, not only to JPost, but also to pro-Israel advocates who put great stock in what he has to say. The editors and management should brace themselves for a considerable wave of protest anger and resentment from readers.
I call upon my readers to protest vigorously should the column be cancelled and to in turn cancel your subscriptions to the paper.
In the meantime should anyone wish to make their dissatisfaction known these are the relevant contact details at the JPost
CEO – Ronit Hasin-Hochman <ronith@jpost.com>
Editor Yaakov Katz <yaakovkatz @gmail.com>; <yaakov@jpost.com>
or message their Facebook pages
The Post moved left long ago. I had high hopes for the Times of Israel, but have been greatly disappointed.
Both suck.
Israel Hayom and Arutz Sheva are the alternatives, and of course bloggers such as Ted among others.
I am a big supporter of Martin Sherman. Yes he sacrifices brevity to clarity. But his insights are profound. Can Martin turn the ship of state around so that it says “no” to both a Palestinian state and “no to a bi-national state. Its a daunting task.
@ Joseph Rapaport:
JP has always been left except for the years Conrad Black owned the paper…..
Maybe JP is edging leftward like its sister publication
the Jerusalem Report. I will be attending the Conference
next week, I haven’t missed one yet, and it will be interesting
to see the mood then.
More evidence that JP is moving leftwards!@ Keli-A:
Sorry but I dis-AGREE. The vast majority of people needs to be told time and again evidences that most ignore or just don’t care about. Besides he says it much better than anybody else. That is part of intelligent Hasbara!!!
Most people just read or hear titles, sound bites as they say!!!
Post has a new editor and is experiencing financial issues like a lot of Newspapers.
One of my freelancer friends at the Post said freelancers who wished to continue writing would have to work for free.
ppksky Said:
I agree which is very unusual for me 😛
If the JP wants to improve its site and increase its readers, it should get rid of all the crap pop-ups and endless browser clogging filth that makes the content impossible to read. I never go there at all if I can possibly find the articles somewhere else.
Sometimes the shit clogging up the JP website is so bad that I am forced to copy and paste the content into notepad or other text editor and read it that way.
INN’s site is just as bad. JP’s and INN’s website are absolutely the worse websites I have ever had cause to visit ever. JP’s site is the only site I have ever visited where I got a special warning on hostile code from my browser. It is wretched beyond belief.
But losing Martin Sherman would not be a huge loss. He is always talking about something that somebody else said at least two years ago and said it better or at least more briefly.
Bad news, if true.