I just received a fundraising appeal from JTA, the leading national Jewish news agency. In it, Mark Joffe, the publisher, boasts of the most important reporting achievement he can muster to inspire donors to open their pocketbooks. This tells you a lot about where JTA sees its core audience:
When federal agents raided the country’s largest kosher meat plant, arresting hundreds of workers and bringing the operation to a halt, JTA was quick to notify the Jewish world of both the alleged mistreatment of workers and the threat to the kosher meat supply.
JTA was the only Jewish news organization to fly a reporter to Iowa to cover the unfolding story on the ground.
That type of special coverage costs money. As an independent non-profit, JTA relies on donations from readers like you to make it possible. Our mission is to foster an ongoing conversation in the Jewish community and bring the Jewish world a little bit closer together.
I don’t want to demean meat-eating kosher Jews for whom such news is undoubtedly important. But this is the best that JTA can offer its readers in terms of its achievements? This is where it sinks its staff time and travel budget?
And note, highlighting a story that impacts at best a small minority of the Jewish community is designed to “foster an ongoing conversation in the Jewish community and bring the Jewish world a little bit closer together.” I’d say rather it’s an attempt to curry favor with the Orthodox community for whom kosher slaughterhouses may be big news.
JTA’s coverage of Israel does not foster a conversation or bring the Jewish world closer together. It merely reinforces the corporate Jewish message that we are supposedly one, one with Israel, one with each other. It’s Israel coverage challenges nothing, questions nothing, and informs hardly at all.
I truly wish JTA was the kind of journalistic organization I COULD support with a gift. I’d be delighted to do so. But until their reporting better reflects the diversity of Israeli and American Jewish opinion on the Israeli-Arab conflict, it’s too hard for me to justify such giving. I’d rather support organizations that are promoting peace in the Middle East.
OT to this post…
My compliments to you, Richard, on the lovely slideshow that heads up Tikun Olam blog. The images are gorgeous, and the fact that they change gives them more impact. The tile olive tree and the bowl with the hands are both unbelievably beautiful to look at. Thank you.
This issue leaves me with mixed feelings actually. But a longer note just disappeared due to a wrong move, so I leave it to a shorter statement:
Slaughter practices and animal rights?
Were have we heard this before? Also isn’t there a similar campaign against Arab slaughter techniques? Is it justified to allege these animals suffer more than others?
What interest groups could are involved here?
Feds: Illegal Workers and drugs?
Illegal workers: What American or Jewish American would want to work in such a plant?
What is the state of the US meat market? Main competitors? We had a series of scandals that go much deeper, were bad meat was distributed, although it clearly should have been destroyed. While illegal workers surely is a hot issue, but also more manipulative argument … as it is a necessity in a harder price fight.
Why was’t there another huge raid like this? Or is JTA only suggesting so?
Drugs?
It surely must be interesting to go there. If it was me, I’d study the rumor mill in the region and then look at the meat and food market.
This triggered your reaction: “the threat to the kosher meat supply.” Right?
That I can partly understand. I could have been formulated more carefully. But don’t we all sometimes write something that does not contain our main concerns?
Wow, I couldn’t disagree with you more. In fact, if I had to say anything about JTA’s reporting on this issue, I would point out that they haven’t done as good a job as the New York Times, the Forward, or many of the bloggers.
This is the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the country, which means that it kills animals for food for both observant Jews and for other meat eaters, because kosher slaughterhouses sell the parts of animals that aren’t kosher to the non-kosher market. This latest scandal comes on top of PETA’s accusations that the plant has been involved in some pretty major animal cruelty. The PETA investigators who took video of what was happening in the plant were observant Jews–observant Jews have a huge stake in the animal cruelty issue, if only because it could make the meat treif.
The EPA has indicted the plant for polluting the local environment. The ICE conducted the single largest raid on undocumented workers. Both NPR and the NY Times reported on how the Feds forced the workers to plead guilty. One of the government’s translators risked his job and reputation to document the injustice toward the illiterate Guatamalan peasants who were shackled and imprisoned for working in the plant. The community in Postville has been decimated. There is just way too much to say about the environmental, immigration, animal cruelty and social justice issues around this meat packing plant.
One problem that I have with the US Jewish community’s Israel politics is that we focus on Israel to the exclusion of other issues that are also important.
@balabusta: I didn’t expect an observant Jew would agree with me. And I didn’t say the story wasn’t worth covering. And I didn’t say these weren’t valid concerns. I said that featuring it in a fundraising appeal as if this is the most important story JTA has covered, showed the insularity of JTA’s approach to the Jewish world.
The Agriprocessors Raid brings up many different issues. I do not think the Rubashkins have heard the last of the federal government.
Kosher Gate!