Baltimore officials extended a financial break on Wednesday to the struggling Baltimore Jewish Times, which like many media outlets has been hard hit by the national economic downturn.
A deal, approved unanimously by the city’s Board of Estimates, allows the weekly newspaper to suspend principal payments on a $150,000 relocation loan for the next two years. While it saves the paper from having to lay off another staff member, the move raises questions about how news outlets objectively cover cities that have extended financial help.
Calling the concern “valid,” publisher Andrew A. Buerger said the transaction would not affect the Times’ reporting.
Buerger stressed that accepting the Baltimore Development Corp. loan in 2002 had no impact on the paper’s work and pointed to watchdog articles about poor police response times in Jewish communities. He vowed to continue such coverage.
“I don’t think our editorial department is even aware” of the restructuring, he said.
“We looked at what costs can we control,” Buerger said. “We are not getting out of the loan.”
Buerger said that he has laid off four staff members in the past year as advertising revenue declines, and the suspension of loan payments will save a position. The paper has about 45 staff members, including 10 in the newsroom, he said.
The city initially extended the loan to the paper to lure it back from Owings Mills. The money, lent at a 3 percent interest rate, was intended to cover relocation costs. The paper has repaid $40,000 in principal, and will continue its weekly interest payments.
Jeff Pillas, the chief financial officer for the Baltimore Development Corp., said that the “economy has not been kind to a lot of companies.” The loan schedule was softened, he said, because BDC “didn’t want them to close up.”
(Source: Baltimore Sun)
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7 Responses
The Baltimore Jewish Times has distinguished itself in being antagonistic to the Orthodox Jewish community. In the Baltimore metropolitan area (which is really the Baltimore half of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area), most Jews are Orthodox. Note that the more secular Washington half of the area, has its own newspaper. Given that the newspaper has a policy of spitting in the face of Orthodox Jews, it has lost their support. It is no surprise it is losing money. They are however loyal Democrats.
In response to the comment by “akuperma”, I’m not sure where he/she gets his/her information. I would like to correct a few of the mistakes. I have lived in Baltimore for 28 years, and grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland which is a D.C. suburb, so I believe I know something about the two communities.
1. It is correct that the Baltimore Jewish Times is rather atagonistic and insensitive to the frum community. It seems to have turned into a sensationalist magazine on par with something like the Inquirer. I believe that only a minority of the Orthodox community subscribe to it, and this indeed may add to its financial woes.
2. The majority of Jews in Baltimore are NOT Orthodox. The last poll put the Orthodox community at about 20%.
3. There is a lower percentage of Orthodox Jews in the D.C. area (I don’t know the figure), but there are very nice, active Orthodox communities there. And the overall Jewish population of the Washington D.C. metro area is considerably larger than the Jewish community of Baltimore.
4. Although Baltimore and Washington continue to grow closer together physically (the D.C. metro area is quite large), they are really still very separate cities.
FYI – We have a wonderful Jewish magazine in Baltimore that caters to the Orthodox community. It is called the “Where, What, When” and you can also find it on the web.
they are having a hard time money wise because the paper and its editor were put in cherem by the frum rabbonim in town.
the times has almost no frum advertisment anymore and lost about 50% of its income.
its a shame that you are reporting anything about this very anti frum publication.
#2 – the government defines Baltiore and Washington as a single metropolitan area. The relationship is similar to Brooklyn and Manhattan. For frei Jews, Manhattan (Washington and Montgomery County) s preferable. Most frum Jews find Brooklyn (Baltimore)preferable. This self-selection means that the major concentration of frum Jews is in Baltimore (the commute is similar to outer boroughs to mid-town in New York, housing in Baltimore is about half to a third that of Silver Spring and Rockville). Secular Jews prefer to be closer to DC. Based on multiple surveys, and school attendance figures, the overwhelming majority of Jews in the city of Baltimore are frum. If one adds suburban Baltimore county to the mix, the numbers even out somewhat, but Orthodox still outnumber non-frum (which is why the anti-frum policies of the Jewish Times were counterproductive). If one adds Anne Arundel and Howard Country, it doesn’t help the newspaper since those counties prefer the Washington newspaper.
It is well known that unfortunately the Baltimore Jewish Times is a rag full of self-hating Jewish rhetoric. It does not belong in a Jewish home. In fact many organizations in run the other way when approached for an interview about their respective organization. The Baltimore not so Jewish Times has a knack for turning news and interviews into anti Frum sensationalism. Shame on the so called “frum” editor.
the Jewish times contains complete apikarsus. they also list couples who are intermarrying in their “mazel tov” section. any frum Jew who is careful not to bring secular papers into their home should include the JT in this category.
To akupera: For the correct statistics, please see http://www.associated.org/local_includes/downloads/33234.pdf.
Specifically:
Religious Affiliation
33% of the Jewish population live in households identified as Conservative.
21% are in households identified as Orthodox.
33% are in households identified as Reform.
9% are in households identified as non-denominational or secular.