Wanted: Your Jerusalem Post Horror Stories
Have you ever worked at the Jerusalem Post and had a nasty run-in with, oh, say, Caroline Glick? Have you ever had a submission so thoroughly ravaged by the editorial staff so as to be unrecognizable in the end? Have you ever gotten dicked around on a paycheck for months? Have you ever been written about in the paper and completely outraged by the manner in which you were represented? Have you ever come across an op-ed so skewed, so factually incorrect, so inanely biased that you simply could not open the paper ever again? Have you ever had a subscription that they kept charging you for months after you canceled?
I want your Jerusalem Post horror stories. Email them to me at editor at jewschool dot com. Your submissions will remain entirely anonymous.
Mobius? Everything alright? Not that I’m the biggest fan of the paper, but why you gathering ammo for a war?
Great. Let’s get gossip about someone we don’t like!
I think I read this somewheres:
“I may attack a certain point of view which I consider false, but I will NEVER attack a person who preaches it.”
Let’s see…where did I just read that? Where? Hmmmmmm…..If anyone knows, just make a comment here and tell me. I can’t remember….
I guess I missed something. Where exactly – or even obliquely – does this post include an attack of any kind whatever against any point of view, much less against a person who advocates it? What it appears to do is solicit information. And though it may solicit information that’s entirely subjective and biased, on what basis could anyone assume that information will be repeated without corroborartion? The Jerusalem Post is a prominent public institution, and it damn well shuold be subject to vigorous public scrutiny. Moreover, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass whether the people providing or compiling that information love the paper or hate its guts. All that matters is the accuracy of the information that ultimately emerges.
Way to go! Can’t wait to see part 2 of this. The Post used to be a great paper, it’s now firmly in the hands of hacks and settlers.
Mob is still unclear that to “attack a certain point of view which I consider false, but I will never attack a person who preaches it.” should apply to the boss as well. He forgets that, and folks have to remind him every now and again. And when enough do, he applogizes.
Oh and D. Smith…
“had a nasty run-in with, oh, say, Caroline Glick?”
That is, by every definition, “iresponsible speech online”.
“on what basis could anyone assume that information will be repeated without corroborartion?”
Well, he’s inviting people to STATE such information, and not demanding corroboration. So basically, he’s inviting people to partake in gossip, AND promising them the protection of anonymity. I have no problem, personally, with calling a person a dimwit or a fascist if that’s what repeated behavior has demonstrated them to be. But I do that if, at the time I’m talking to the person, I can give my reasons, with evidence from personal experience.
But asking someone else to gossip and then quoting how he’ll NEVER attack a person…wait, I get it. You aren’t really a person if you have the wrong political beleifs. You are subhuman, so its OK. Did I get that right? Hope not.
yeah, mobius, i’d suggest you take this down.
What is this, attack of the loshn-hora gestapo?
This post is actually quite enjoyable, though Mob didn’t tell us what brought it on.
Nonetheless, it’s not odd that the usual folk are bent out of shape over it, and the other usual folk seem to really like it.
who’s attacking a person? i’m attacking a corporation and the entire way it conducts its business. it’s called an employee/consumer survey.
mr. kettle, says mr. pot, your comments are no more than an attempt to tarnish me as an individual, as you aim to publicly shame me by branding me a hypocrite. do you seriously find teasing a public author about their temperamant an unforgivable act of lashon harah?
i’m sure if i said, “noam chomsky’s a big asshole” no one would have said boo.
Ol’ Mobius has a history of being unhappy with the JPost, even as the paper has solicited his opinion and given him lots of free publicity over the years. He’s right though – the Post is pretty mediocre most of the time and there are plenty of horror stories to go around – I’ve got a few myself. I will say that the JPost is also more interesting that most ‘lefties’ give credit for and these days showcases a wide variety of viewpoints – there is far more of a debate on it’s op-ed pages that on Haaretz or Ynetnews.
Since it also represents ‘the establishment’ I can see why Mobius and the Jewschool community would have beef.
About the lashon hara issue, well, this is the blogosphere after all. I think it’s a little too late to expect reasoned, respectful discourse from anonymous commentators – see the Haaretz talkbacks for examples.
Hey, I would pay good money to see Mobius debate Caroline Click though! And that jpostsucks.com URL goes nowhere, if you really plan to have that up Mob you will probably get sued, but after taking on Manishevitz, well what is there to fear?
*snort*
I’m really looking forward to the results of this… I can’t even read the JP these days unless I’ve been heavily sedated.
Noam Chomsky’s a big asshole.
(sorry, mob. i had to try it.)
Boo.
Mobius:
You aren’t attacking a person. You are inviting others to do it for you.
If you had simply asked your other questions, I persoally would have had no beef. But you singled out a specific person, and asked for gossip about her. I don’t care who she is. I usually get about half way through her columns before I get bored and irritated by her strident tone and propagandist rhetoric, if I get that far. Savage her views all you like, fine, its your business. But you are specifically asking for gossip.
Want some shrimp? I wouldn’t eat it myself, but what’s wrong with asking other Jews to eat it? Right?
And, by the way, the hypocrisy of others (re: Noam Chomsky) in no way validates your position. That’s called an argument ad ominem tu quoque, and it is a fairly common logical fallacy amoung the partisan politics crowd. That’s just so you know, if you didn’t already……
So no, I’m not tryig to publicly shae you by branding you a hypocrit, I’m pointing out that you made a mistake, and I’m using the standards you promote on your own blog to demonstrate that you, if you are objective and consistent in your ethics, will know that it is a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes. Perhaps mine is in my tone and manner, but I do not think it is in my argument.
Or perhaps my mistake is in persisting in this line of comment. Your call.
Noam Chomsky IS a big asshole. But I wouldn’t support anyone trolling for lashon hara about him, either. Besides, it would probably just encourage him.
Even if you don’t see it yourself Mobius, you messed up here. But that’s okay, actually.
You’re a great writer with a facinating eye for the world and i respect you deeply for your drive AND your integrity. That, i suspect, is also why the community here just got all uppity: you ARE a man of integrity, and thus any deviation is as noticable as pork sausages at a barmitzva disco.
But it doesn’t have to be so big a deal! Who doesn’t make mistakes, nu?
It might be worth admitting it though (from both a PR and personal perspective).
It doesn’t shame you, brother; on the contrary, it will restore your integrity here. And if the community doesn’t accept it? Well, that is their friggin problem. Seriously. People have a short memory for the errors of good people. And you are good people, Mob.
I, for one, will never stop coming to read and debate on jewschool. It IS the best darn blogazine out there for yehudim she’choshvim le’atzmum.
Actually Noam Chomsky handles himself pretty well here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zPHAhj_Cio
debating Ali G. Could Ms. Glick keep the same cool?