Canadian Jewish News#Revival in digital form

{{Infobox newspaper

| name = The Canadian Jewish News

| logo = Cjn-logo-2015

| caption =

| format = Digital-first with quarterly print magazine; formerly a weekly tabloid{{cite book|title=American Jewish Year Book, 1996.|author=American Jewish Committee, R.R.S.D.S.|date=1995|issue=v. 96|publisher=American Jewish Committee|isbn=9780874951103|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=daFeyrLbqy0C|page=547|access-date=October 5, 2014}}

| owners = Non-profit Organization

| founder = M. J. Nurenberger
and Dorothy Nurenberger

| publisher = Board of Directors

| president = Bryan Borzykowski

| foundation = {{Start date|1960}} (reorganized 1971)

| political = non-partisan

| language = English and French

| headquarters = Toronto, Ontario, Canada

| website = {{URL|https://www.thecjn.ca/}}

}}

The Canadian Jewish News is a non-profit,{{cite news|last= Ladurantaye|first= Steve|url= http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canadian-jewish-news-to-stop-publishing/article11466217/?service=mobile |title= Canadian Jewish News to stop publishing weekly|newspaper= The Globe and Mail|date= April 22, 2013|access-date= December 30, 2014}} national, English-language digital-first media organization that serves Canada's Jewish community.{{cite book|title=Continuity, Commitment, and Survival: Jewish Communities in the Diaspora|author1=Encel, S.|author2=Stein, L.|date=2003|publisher=Praeger|isbn=9780275973377|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZPmjch1je8C|page=33|access-date=October 5, 2014}}{{cite book|title=Claiming Space: Racialization in Canadian Cities|author=Teelucksingh, C.|date=2006|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press|isbn=9780889204997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Raubv8MmCGAC|page=43|access-date=October 5, 2014}}{{cite journal|title=Anti-Semitism World Wide|author1=Universitat Tel-Aviv. Fakultah le-mada’e ha-ruah|author2=Bnai Brith. Anti-defamation League|journal=Anti-Semitism Worldwide|publisher=Ramot Publishing.|issn=0793-1840|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ds6X1j_qkgC|page=205|access-date=October 5, 2014}} 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. 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 the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada on its finances.{{cite news |last=Wolfe|first=Elizabeth|title=TO OUR READERS: EVERYTHING HAS ITS SEASON. IT IS TIME |url=https://www.cjnews.com/home-featured/to-our-readers-everything-has-its-season-it-is-time |access-date=April 2, 2020 |work=Canadian Jewish News |date=April 2, 2020}} Its final weekly print edition was published on April 9, 2020.{{cite news |last1=Kline |first1=Jesse |title=Another COVID-19 casualty: After 60 years, the Canadian Jewish News will cease operations |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/another-covid-19-casualty-after-60-years-the-canadian-jewish-news-will-cease-operations |access-date=April 2, 2020 |work=National Post |date=April 2, 2020}} In December 2020, it announced its return as a digital-first media company{{cite web |last1=Farber |first1=Bernie |title=A Note from the Publisher: The Bridge is Now Completed |url=https://canadianjewishrecord.ca/2020/12/23/a-note-from-the-publisher-the-bridge-is-now-completed/ |website=The Canadian Jewish Record |date=23 December 2020 |access-date=4 May 2021 |archive-date=31 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831200843/https://canadianjewishrecord.ca/2020/12/23/a-note-from-the-publisher-the-bridge-is-now-completed/ |url-status=dead }} with a new president, Bryan Borzykowski.{{cite web |title=Bryan Borzykowski |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/bborzyko/?originalSubdomain=ca |website=LinkedIn |access-date=4 May 2021}}

History

The Canadian Jewish News was founded by M. J. Nurenberger, a friend of Menachem Begin and supporter of his Herut party, and his wife Dorothy and was first published on Friday, January 1, 1960, and was the first exclusively English-language Jewish newspaper published in Ontario.{{cite news|last=O'Connor|first=Joe|title='They really valued good journalism': For its husband and wife founders, The Canadian Jewish News was a labour of love|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/23/canadian-jewish-news-was-a-labour-of-love/|access-date=April 23, 2013|newspaper=National Post|date=April 23, 2013}}

The CJN was considered a "provocative" paper into the 1970s but was later considered something of a "lapdog for the community". 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 as B'nai Brith and the United Jewish Appeal, the latter for its secrecy in how it dispersed money. According to his daughter, Atara Beck, "He believed that a newspaper should be a thorn in the side of the establishment."{{cite news|last=Houpt|first=Simon|title=Born in adversity, Canadian Jewish News succumbs to the Internet|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/born-in-adversity-canadian-jewish-news-succumbs-to-the-internet/article11511710/|access-date=April 24, 2013|newspaper=Globe and Mail|date=April 23, 2013}}

In 1971, following the death of his wife, Nurenberger sold the newspaper for $30,000 to a group of community leaders that included Shoppers Drug Mart founder Murray Koffler and real estate developer Albert Latner and was led by philanthropist and businessman Ray Wolfe.[http://www.rrj.ca/m3486/ "Drawing the line: There are many subjects writers can discuss in The Canadian Jewish News. Criticizing the security policies of the Israeli government is not one of them"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030614/http://rrj.ca/m3486/ |date=2016-03-04 }}, Ryerson Review of Journalism, Spring 2005 Though independent, the newspaper has been owned, since 1971, by a group of Jewish leaders allied with what was then the Canadian Jewish Congress.{{cite news|last= Csillag|first= Ron|url= http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/04/22/3124826/canadian-jewish-news-to-halt-publication |title= Canadian Jewish News to halt publication|agency= Jewish Telegraphic Agency|date= April 22, 2013|access-date= December 30, 2014}}

Nurenburger soon regretted his decision, discouraged by the new version of the paper's reticence to challenge the community's establishment, and started the Jewish 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.

By 2013, it had a circulation of 40,000 copies per week.

=Suspension=

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/cjn-close|title=The CJN to close | The Canadian Jewish News|date=22 April 2013 |publisher=cjnews.com|access-date=October 5, 2014}}[https://nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/canada/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/22/cjn "The Canadian Jewish News is shutting down, citing changes 'sweeping' newspaper industry"]{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ‘’National Post’’, April 22, 2013.

= Resumption of publication and second closure =

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.{{cite news|title=We will do it. Please join us!|url=https://www.cjnews.com/news/we-will-do-it-please-join-us|access-date=June 14, 2013|newspaper=Canadian Jewish News|date=June 14, 2013}} Among others, editor Mordechai Ben-Dat and senior staffer and columnist Sheldon Kirshner were let go.Elizabeth Wolfe, "Call to Action," Canadian Jewish News, Aug. 1, 2013.

The newspaper was subsequently reorganized under new leadership, and with a drastically reduced staff, beginning in January 2014, with Elizabeth Wolfe, daughter of Ray Wolfe, becoming president and former Jerusalem Report, National Post and Maclean's journalist Yoni Goldstein becoming the newspaper's editor.{{cite news|title=CJN selects new president, names editor|url=https://www.cjnews.com/news/cjn-selects-new-president-names-editor|access-date=December 22, 2013|newspaper=Canadian Jewish News|date=December 17, 2013}} Goldstein subsequently introduced a more diverse range of contributors to the newspaper.{{Cite news|url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canadas-jewish-community-divided-over-which-party-should-be-elected/article26854943/|title = Canada's Jewish community divided over which party should be elected|last = Martin|first = Patrick|date = 16 October 2015|work = The Globe and Mail|access-date = 19 October 2015}} The content of the newly revamped paper was described as "racier" and was more reliant on freelancers.{{Cite news|title = How Canada's Last Jewish Newspaper Came Back From the Brink|url = http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/news/.premium-1.702163|newspaper = Haaretz|date = 2016-02-08|access-date = 2016-02-08|language = en|first = Judy|last = Maltz}}

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.

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 the coronavirus pandemic in Canada on its finances.{{cite news |last1=Lazarus |first1=David |title=After 60 years, Canada's leading Jewish newspaper to close due to virus crisis |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-60-years-canadas-leading-jewish-newspaper-to-close-due-to-virus-crisis/ |access-date=3 April 2020 |work=Times of Israel}} CJN president Elizabeth Wolfe stated that "The CJN suffered from a pre-existing condition and has been felled by COVID-19."

= Revival in digital form =

In May 2021, The CJN resumed publication once again, for the first time without a physical weekly newspaper.{{cite news |title=The Many Lives of The Canadian Jewish News |url=https://rrj.ca/the-many-lives-of-the-canadian-jewish-news/|access-date=27 April 2021 |work=Ryerson Review of Journalism}} Instead, it returned at a new website, thecjn.ca,{{cite news |title=The CJN |url=https://www.thecjn.ca |access-date=4 May 2021}} 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.{{cite web |date=25 March 2021 |title=The CJN Magazine |url=https://issuu.com/thecjn/docs/flip-optimized |access-date=4 May 2021 |website=Issuu}}

In addition, they launched a new frequent email newsletter and began several original podcasts. The current list includes The CJN Daily, a daily newscast hosted by Ellin Bessner, author of Double Threat;{{cite web |title=The CJN Daily |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-cjn-daily/id1565571997 |website=Apple Podcasts |access-date=4 May 2021}} Bonjour Chai, hosted by Rabbi Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy, a columnist with The Globe and Mail and the author of The Perils of "Privilege";{{cite web |title=Bonjour Chai |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/bonjour-chai/id1555600279 |website=Apple Podcasts |access-date=4 May 2021}} Menschwarmers, about Jews and sports;{{cite web |title=Menschwarmers |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/menschwarmers/id1458111229 |website=Apple Podcasts |access-date=4 May 2021}} Culturally Jewish, about Canadian Jewish arts and culture, hosted by actors Ilana Zackon and David Sklar;{{cite web |title=Culturally Jewish |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/culturally-jewish/id1679055052 |website=Apple Podcasts |access-date=15 September 2023}} Not That Kind of Rabbi, hosted by CBC veteran Ralph Benmergui;{{cite web |title=Not That Kind of Rabbi |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/not-that-kind-of-rabbi/id1491270910 |website=Apple Podcasts |access-date=15 September 2023}} and Rivkush, about Jews of colour, hosted by Rivka Campbell.{{cite web |title=Rivkush |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/rivkush/id1571162175 |website=Apple Podcasts |access-date=15 September 2023}}{{cite web |title=The CJN Podcast Network |url=https://twitter.com/CJNpodcasts |website=Twitter |access-date=4 May 2021}}

In 2024, The CJN debuted its first original audio drama podcast, Justice: A Holocaust Zombie Story, about media narratives and generational trauma.{{Cite web |date=2024-08-31 |title=Justice: A Holocaust Zombie Story |url=https://thecjn.ca/series/zombies/ |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=The Canadian Jewish News |language=en-US}} The show was produced in association with the Ashkenaz Foundation.

At the end of 2023, longtime editor-in-chief Yoni Goldstein stepped down and was replaced by CEO Michael Weisdorf.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-25 |title=The Canadian Jewish News welcomed a new CEO to start 2024: Michael Weisdorf |url=https://thecjn.ca/news/michael-weisdorf-ceo-cjn/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=The Canadian Jewish News |language=en-US}} The CJN also began hosting live podcast tapings across Toronto. Initial guests included actress Jennifer Podemski{{Cite web |date=2023-06-26 |title=How Jennifer Podemski blends Jewish and Indigenous generational trauma in her new TV show 'Little Bird' |url=https://thecjn.ca/podcasts/how-jennifer-podemski-blends-jewish-and-indigenous-generational-trauma-in-her-new-tv-show-little-bird/ |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=The Canadian Jewish News |language=en-US}} and sports broadcaster Michael Landsberg.{{Cite web |date=2023-08-30 |title=How Michael Landsberg blazed a trail for Jewish broadcasters—and quietly struggled along the way |url=https://thecjn.ca/podcasts/how-michael-landsberg-blazed-a-trail-for-jewish-broadcasters-and-quietly-struggled-along-the-way/ |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=The Canadian Jewish News |language=en-US}}

Contributors

Notable contributors to the newspaper have included Jacob Elbaz and J. B. Salsberg, who was a featured columnist in the newspaper for several decades until his death in 1998; and Rabbi Gunther Plaut, who contributed a weekly column for many years.{{Cite web |date=2017-07-21 |title=Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut: much more than a spiritual leader |url=https://thecjn.ca/perspectives/opinions/rabbi-w-gunther-plaut-much-spiritual-leader/ |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=The Canadian Jewish News |language=en-US}} In its final print years, Bernie Farber and Barbara Kay were weekly columnists.

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 of Bar-Ilan University, as well as Jean Gerber in Vancouver, and Rabbi Dow Marmur and Avrum Rosensweig in Toronto.{{Cite web |title=Perspectives |url=https://thecjn.ca/perspectives/ |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=The Canadian Jewish News |language=en-US}}