Journal 3 in 2003
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Tobe Levin
"Fourth" Power?
Female Journalists and Editors in Jewish Media

"We're here to discuss the situation of Jewish women in Jewish mass media," chair Dr. Susanna Keval, editor-in-chief, Jüdische Gemeindezeitung Frankfurt, announces in English. "What freedom do editors and journalists have in reporting on Jewish women? Do women editors have power?" These questions, directed not only to the speakers arranged on four sides of the oblong table but to all participants, set the tone. We are colleagues, some with extensive experience as journalists and editors of Jewish papers, others curious and ready to learn. Good start! I think. No podium, no hierarchy: we're all in Berlin, with our various competencies, to talk about how women's voices influence Jewish media.

"What does it mean to be a correspondent for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency?" Susanna asks, directing this question to Toby Axelrod, now living in the capital to cover Germany for English language papers. Axelrod, who doesn't specialize on women's issues but rather on major events with ramifications for Jews, naturally includes Jewish women specifically, making that first all-important compensatory move away from assuming a generic human being, the use of men to stand for all humanity having erased women in the first place. Previously a reporter for the Jewish Week in NY where she had a niche, Axelrod covered people, health, cultural issues and social problems (i.e. poverty in the Jewish community, sexual abuse, incest...) "Eight or nine years ago these stories never got on the front page but that has changed," Axelrod points out, adding how important it is for any journalist's career that her stories appear on page one, and not merely on 4, 5 , or 6... an aspect that implies previous discrimination against women's issues, and hence female journalists. But the good news is, this is fading.

"Budapest offers us a different profile," Andrea Deak, who writes for "Esther's Bag," suggests. "There women are prevalent among editors in general, and Esther's Bag, in particular, is a special women's section in the glossy monthly magazine Szombat [Saturday]."

"You're fortunate," Katarina Jelinkova adds with a touch of envy. Prague hosts a Jewish monthly, like a newsletter, for the Orthodox Jewish community. This sounds like good news, but there's "no space in the magazine for anything else," i.e. specific women's topics. Inspired by this omission, Katarina, from a liberal, reform congregation in the Czech capital, launched “Ha-Tikvah,” which lasted a few issues, and was then followed by “Ha-Maskil,” circulation 600. The figure may seem small, but considering that the Jewish community in the Czech Republic consists of only 3,000, it's impressive.

As for the Nieuw Israelitisch Weekblad (NIW -- New Israelite Weekly) it used to represent an "old men's network," Wanya Kruyer (Amsterdam) reports, but that's not surprising for a paper begun in 1865. In 1993, however, the first female editor-in-chief came on board and "we're already on our third," Wanda boasts. So the power base in Amsterdam, at least, has changed, becoming more dispersed and representative. And although “feminization” of the editor-in-chief's position has meant prestige devaluation -- a hardly surprising phenomenon -- democratic access to reporters' jobs also ensued. Supplying in-depth background stories, the Weekly's present circulation is 10,000 in a community of 45,000. Not bad at all! And a good many copies go to non-Jewish readers. "One more interesting point," Wanya adds, "is that for seven years, I had a regular column on the global Jewish press, thereby educating the community and myself as well."

"So far," Susanne Keval now gathers the threads together, "we haven't heard much about stories targeted specifically at women. Toby," she turns to Ms. Axelrod, "you report on Jewish women's activities in Germany. When writing for a U.S. audience, what do you feel most fascinates your readers?"

"Personal narratives," Toby answers. "For instance, my article on this meeting will start with the impressive dedication of the plaque to Bertha and Hermann Falkenberg; I'll point to the people, the neighbors, looking down from their balconies; I'll speculate on the landlord's feelings about what's taking place. The angle is, we are entering history, and a gathering like this, which might seem to end once participants go home, has actually left a commemorative statement, a mark on this city." Yes, the plaque is, in a sense, Bet Debora's signature, a lasting tie to pre-Shoah times, echoed by the Hungarian encouragement of older Jewish women survivors of the Holocaust to write their stories. Budapest is planning a publication featuring women's voices.

"But do we really want to focus solely on women? Isn't this a return to or reinforcement of the segregation within Jewish practice of which many of us here disapprove?" a participant asks. "In Prague, for instance," Jelinkova answers, "Maskil mainstreams women's issues. We don't isolate women's pages." And what about youth? If we highlight particular demographic experiences, do we increase or decrease circulation?

"A modest drop in our circulation has led to a direct address to younger readers," Kruyer notes, appealing to them via the Jewish-Dutch.nl website which has replaced paper. "This shift to the internet should probably play a larger role in the present discussion," she adds.

We continue, however, to consider women's impact on print, turning now to the chair's experience. In Frankfurt's “Jüdische Gemeindezeitung” editor-in-chief Keval includes a women's page in the authorised media. "I'm not entirely free," she admits, "given that the editor is an official community voice." Still, a long-time reader of the U.S. publication “Lilith,” a Jewish feminist quarterly, Keval innovated by including feminist poetry, midrashim featuring strong Biblical women, and, for instance, a pastiche of critical interpretations of Miriam. "I have the impression that people like it," she notes. "At least, there's been no negative feedback, only positive, and that not only from women but also men." Nonetheless, men dominate the board, so Susanna must move subtly ahead.

That more women are needed in positions of power is agreed upon. Axelrod reminds us that modest communities are more congenial to female leadership -- there are, for example, more women editors in small towns.

And in tandem with the call for more women editors, a project is underway to increase the number of women rather than men cited in articles. Women are sought out and registered as experts.

Advice from successful Jewish feminist publications is also welcome. Susan Weidman Schneider, editor of “Lilith,” has been asked why her publication features so many personal stories. The answer: because women seem to get the details better.

But personal stories and personal issues are two different matters. When Axelrod tried to publish her emotional account of finding herself a Jewish woman in her forties without husband or children -- a situation not envisioned nor experienced without pain -- she was told, here in Germany, we don't disclose things like that. (The piece finally appeared in the Bet Debora journal.)

"Yes," Wanya agrees, "in Amsterdam, too, there are limitations to our freedom. For instance, we don't dare provoke male religious authorities. How does this work out in practice? I used a neutral pen name for my series reviewing the world's Jewish press and thus impressed a certain group of male leaders. Under this disguise, I assume people could think, a scholarly male person is writing this." (It looks to me like the Bronte sisters -- those great 19th century British novelists who published as males -- are alive and well in the 21st...)

Still, given that we were raised as women or men, differences remain visible. One gender distinction lies in content orientation. Wanya feels that female journalists are more concerned to cover particular stories, while men's interest extends to position and prestige as well. Will their by-lines further their careers? Women journalists appear less ruthless.

Still, Axelrod delves deeply into an issue by cajoling informants, often receiving information even if an interviewee is unwilling to give it. “Softpower” she calls it. "I listen to people who grow more comfortable because I'm listening..." Writing about sexual abuse in Jewish families, for instance, she spoke to a rabbi who counseled victims. He didn't want an article written about this subject for fear that the entire Jewish community would be tarred with the same brush, i.e. anti-Semites would have a field day, such unflattering revelations playing right into their hands.

What do participants feel about this?

The papers are primarily targeted toward Jewish audiences that can only benefit from discussion of gender inequalities. And make no mistake, Jelinkova adds, the Jewish media has power, unrecognized by the Orthodox, to influence change. In Prague, for instance, she disseminates “Maskil” to all communities in the Czech republic who, although not liberal, enjoy the magazine and see that it comes from a liberal community.

Regarding additional liberal innovations in the world of media, I introduced “Feminist Europa.” Review of Books, which I edit. Launched in 1998, the book review journal published in English features work in women's and gender studies that appears in all European languages other than English and always includes the latest books on Jewish women in Europe. Beginning in 2004, “Feminist Europa” will appear twice a year on the website of the German Foundation for Gender Studies >www.stiftung-frauenforschung.de<. Another magazine covering more closely Jewish women (and men) is “Golem,” edited by Toby Axelrod, also scheduled to appear on the internet in 2004.

So, to conclude, do women editors in Jewish media have power? Although in many cases covert rather than overt, the power derived from women's presence and authority is clearly increasing. Or at least, we've now got one foot, or maybe even two feet, in the door.