Looking backward on “Forverts”.

6.2.2013

From “the four corners of the globe” …  (-:

The staff of FORWARD appear to have been surprised that the website had been noticed outside The USA. Mon Dieu, KOPJIK finds it far more surprising that FORWARD appears finally

to have discovered The Yiddish World!

Welcome, FORWARD, to this century!

February 5, 2013, 3:15pm

Mon Dieu, C’est Le Forverts!

By Forward Staff

The Forward’s new Yiddish site has certainly taken off with a bang.

In the days since the launch of the yiddish.forward.com site was announced, several major media outlets have run stories on it, and what it means for the future of the Yiddish language.

We hoped the new site might get a lot of attention in the U.S. But we had no idea there would be interest from the four corners of the globe.

As proof, we offer a link to the French news site l’Express, which ran an article in French on the Yiddish site from the Agence France Presse wire service.

Read it and enjoy, nos amis!

Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/forward-thinking/#story-1#ixzz2K8hSc84Q

 2.2.2013

The Yiddish newspaper “Forverts” – once a giant in the Yiddish World with 1.000.000 readers – has shrinked to a circulation of just 2.100 copies with less than 6.000 readers. A sad fact indeed.

Until now the paper edition have been a weekly magazine.

Now the editors of “Forverts” have decide to cut the original daily down to a bi-weekly journal in Yiddish. That’s the end of a glorious era for “Forverts”. A newspaper in Yiddish published since 1898 is slowly dying  in front of our eyes.

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But our tears will not save it. Neither will the thousands of dollars poured into the project of saving it.

Is it due to the decreasing interest in Yiddish?

Hardly!

The interest in Yiddish is flourishing on the Internet.

Is it due to the decreasing number of “alte jidden” speaking Yiddish?

The editors of FORVERTZ (“Forverts”) believe so!

But that is hardly the whole truth.

Printing newspapers on paper have long time been a poor business.

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Publishers of all kind of newspapers have known that since many years ago. Publishing a newspaper in Yiddish is no exception.

The editors of “Forverts” have finally realized that and have now decided to concentrate their efforts making the Internet web-site of “FORWARD” more attractive.

KOPJIK INTERNATIONAL YIDDISH DAILY wish them: Mazl tov!!!

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Our question is: Are there a need for a daily updated FORWARD web-site which is not in Yiddish – or at least not exclusively in Yiddish???

Can a daily updated “FORWARD” web-site ever become a new “Forverts” with a daily number of viewers of 1.000.000?

Are there that many relevant news-stories available with a Yiddish or even a Jewish “vinkel” ?

Many new Jewish web-sites bringing the news in English have sprung up recently.

Lets only mention a few of the alternatives:

Vos iz Neias; http://www.vosizneias.com/
Der Algemeiner; http://www.algemeiner.com/
Jewish News One TV – jn1.tv; http://jn1.tv/
Haaretz; http://www.haaretz.com/news
Jerusalem Post; http://www.jpost.com/
The Telegraph; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/…/middleeast/israel/
Fox News; http://www.foxnews.com/topics/israel.htm
Jerusalem Online; http://www.jerusalemonline.com/
Arutz Sheva; http://www.israelnationalnews.com/
MEMRI TV; http://www.memritv.org/
DebkaFile; http://www.debka.com/
Jewish News Today; http://www.jewishnews2day.com/jnt/
Yiddish Report; http://www.yiddishreport.com/

… and many more not mentioned here.

Do we, the readers, really need one more -site with Jewish News in English?

Isn’t it an enormous waste of ressources to run 10-20 different daily updated Jews News web-sites?

Shouldn’t the editors of “FORWARD” rather look forward and accomplish a collusion or an integration of the ressources spent on running Jewish web-sites in English daily updateded with Jewish News – making one integrated presentation of all the relevant Jewish news now spread on more than 20 news-sites?

KOPJIK urge the editors of “FORWARD” to do this!

Drop the printed paper completely!

Serve the 6 millions instead of the aging 6 thousands!

Do not abandon Yiddish or a Yiddish Daily!

Make it profitable for “FORWARD/Forverts” – and all the Jews!

Look forward – create The Jewish Daily News Web-site in both Yiddish and English!