Gary Rosenblatt

Gary Rosenblatt
Born February 25, 1947
Baltimore, Md.
Occupation Journalist, Editor, Publisher
Notable credit(s) Editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times for 19 years; Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism (2000); Pulitzer Prize finalist (1985)
Title Editor-in-chief and Publisher, The Jewish Week

Gary Rosenblatt is the editor and publisher of The Jewish Week of New York, a position he has held since 1993. Previously he was the editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times for 19 years.[1]

Early career

In 1972, Charles "Chuck" Buerger, the grandson of the founder of the Baltimore Jewish Times, became the weekly's publisher. In 1974 he hired Gary Rosenblatt as editor and over the next two decades the paper gained national respect and prominence. The two expanded the scope of the paper's coverage, as well as the size; in the 1980s the paper regularly exceeded 200 pages, and circulation peaked at over 20,000. In 1984 Buerger acquired The Jewish News of Detroit, and Rosenblatt was named editor, in addition to his responsibilities in Baltimore. In 1988 Buerger bought The Atlanta Jewish Times, adding Rosenblatt as editor there as well. The Detroit and Atlanta papers were given similar makeovers, including an emphasis on more and deeper local reporting and enhanced graphics, before Rosenblatt left for The Jewish Week in 1993.[2]

Notable Articles

The Simon Wiesenthal Center's Holocaust Memorial

While at the Baltimore Jewish Times, Rosenblatt published an article on September 14, 1984 titled "The Simon Wiesenthal Center: State-of-the-art Activism or Hollywood Hype?" analyzing whether Wiesenthal Center officials were truthful in marketing their Holocaust museum as a non-sectarian, humanitarian institution in order to receive funding from the state of California.[3]

This article was one of two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in the category of Special Reporting in 1985.[4] The honor marked the first time an article in a Jewish publication was cited in the Pulitzer competition.[5]

Sexual Harassment Investigation of Baruch Lanner

On June 23, 2000, The Jewish Week published an article by Rosenblatt titled "Stolen Innocence," investigating a long list of sexual harassment charges against Orthodox rabbi Baruch Lanner, an Orthodox Union educator who worked closely with teenagers for more than three decades. The article also reported that the Orthodox Union was aware of Lanner's behavior but chose not take any action. On learning of the newspaper's investigation—which included on-the-record interviews with many of Lanner's victims—OU officials asked Rosenblatt not to go to press, but he did anyway. As a result of the article, and subsequent reports by Rosenblatt on Rabbi Lanner's alleged offenses, the OU forced the rabbi to resign and commissioned an independent inquiry; two congregations suspended their OU membership in protest; more victims came forward and filed complaints with local prosecutors; at least two rabbis used their pulpits to castigate the paper and a major advertiser threatened to lead a boycott.[6]

Lanner was arrested, and on June 27, 2002 he was convicted of sexually abusing two teenage girls in incidents dating back to 1992 and 1997. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.[7] An appeals court dismissed one of the child endangerment charges in 2005.[8] He was released on parole on January 10, 2008, and will remain on parole for four years.[9][10]

The Jewish Week received both praise for its reporting as well as criticism for airing the Jewish community's dirty laundry and violating the Jewish prohibition against malicious gossip (lashon hara).[11]

Recent Articles

Notes

  1. ↑ Gary Rosenblatt Profile, Beliefnet
  2. ↑ Davis, Michael. Publisher of 6 Jewish weeklies, Charles Buerger, dies at 58, j., November 15, 1996
  3. ↑ Miller, Judith. "One by One: Facing the Holocaust." Simon & Schuster, 1990. Page 301.
  4. ↑ Gerstenfeld, Manfred. American Jewry's challenge: conversations confronting the twenty-first century pg 131
  5. ↑ Gary Rosenblatt Profile, Beliefnet
  6. ↑ Columbia Journalism Review, November 2000
  7. ↑ Smothers, Ronald (October 12, 2002). "Rabbi Convicted of Sexual Abuse Is Freed on Bail Pending Appeal". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  8. ↑ "Split Ruling On Lanner Appeal" Ain, Stewart. The New York Jewish Week. (Manhattan edition). New York, N.Y.: Feb 18, 2005. Vol. 217, Iss. 39; pg. 1
  9. ↑ Rosenblatt, Gary. "Lanner to be released from jail next week.", The Jewish Week, January 9, 2008. Accessed January 8, 2008
  10. ↑ Smothers, Ronald. Rabbi Convicted of Sexual Abuse Is Freed on Bail Pending Appeal The New York Times, October 12, 2002
  11. ↑ Barringer, Felicity. Paper Seen as Villain in Abuse Accusations Against Rabbi The New York Times, July 10, 2000

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