Spirit of survival

WHILE THESE are challenging times for the news media, The Jerusalem Post is thriving as it celebrates its 80th anniversary.

What is the secret of our success? The question is simple, but the answer more complex. Like Israel itself, we may just be an exception to the rule.

Our quintessentially Israeli newspaper mirrors the situation in the Jewish state, which is perennially interesting. While proudly backing the Zionist cause, we seek to report and reflect on our fast-changing country and the outside world as accurately and fairly as possible.

We like to think of ourselves as a paper our readers trust and love, even if the news is not always happy and some of our opinion pieces make your blood boil.

Just as Israel is the home of the Jewish people, in this digital age, we want our website – Jpost.com – to be their homepage.

Clearly, we have a great brand name, universally known as a quality title that has truly stood the test of time. But there are other reasons too.

With the onset of the Internet, the paper was one of the first to start an online edition in 1995.

Today our website attracts some five million unique visitors a month, and the figures are rising steadily.

Besides the ever-expanding daily English-language newspaper that started on December 1, 1932, we have broadened The Jerusalem Post Group to include a range of specialized editions. These have proved to be both popular and profitable:

• The International Jerusalem Post is a comprehensive weekly edition, delivered to readers in more than 80 countries. Jerusalem Post Edition Française is a weekly French edition.

• The Jerusalem Report is a glossy biweekly magazine covering Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

• Kosher English is a new weekly edition for the haredi community. The Jerusalem Post Christian Edition is a monthly magazine for Christians in the Holy Land and across the globe.

• The Jerusalem Post lite is published weekly for Hebrew speakers who want to improve their English while The Jerusalem Post Ivrit is a monthly edition to help English speakers improve their Hebrew.

• Our youth magazines aim to improve the English-language skills of children of all ages.

• Finally, the Israel Post is a daily Hebrew edition handed out for free.

IN THE “Announcement” on the front page of the first edition of The Palestine Post (the title was changed to The Jerusalem Post in 1950, two years after the establishment of the state), founding editor Gershon Agron wrote that the paper would be published in Jerusalem for the entire population of the country.

“The Palestine Post will not seek to promote personal ambitions or party advantage,” Agron wrote.

“Its reports will be as objective as is humanly possible, and its criticism informed, legitimate and helpful. In criticism and in reports, the studied purpose will be the present and future welfare of the country and of its people.”

In 1994, executive editor David Bar-Illan summed up the huge leap the newspaper had made in 62 years. “It is the only foreign-language paper anywhere which has an international readership and a global reputation. The modest newspaper of 1932, printed in 1,200 copies, is now a major force on the world scene,” he wrote. “It is essential reading for anyone abroad interested in Israel and its neighbors.”

Today, The Jerusalem Post has established itself as the leading English-language newspaper in Israel and the Jewish world. It is our fervent belief that the newspaper will expand further in the years ahead, taking advantage of new technology in digital media and apps.

At the same time, we trust that you – our readers – will continue to turn to us as your preferred source for news about Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Like a constant companion, we will be here whenever you need us, and provide you with essential information and a range of opinions to make some sense of the sometimes crazy world we live in.

Our rich experience over the past eight decades is reinvigorated by our dedicated employees, ranging from chief archivist Alexander Zvielli (who at 91 has worked at the paper for a record 67 years) to the young people reporting in the field and staffing our day, night and Internet desks.

Among the new projects we have initiated to promote our brand name are:

• The annual Jerusalem Post Conference. The first, titled “Fighting for the Zionist Dream,” held in New York on April 29, 2012, was a huge success with more than 1,000 people attending. We have a second planned for April 28, 2013, also in New York.

• The Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Club is a forum for the diplomatic corps in Israel. The first meeting, to be addressed by Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, former foreign minister Tzipi Livni and US Ambassador Daniel Shapiro, is scheduled to be held in Herzliya on December 12.

• We recently conducted a well-attended series of US election debates in cooperation with AACI and iVoteIsrael. We will soon offer a similar series in cities across the country ahead of the Israeli elections on January 22, culminating in a panel discussion at The Jerusalem Great Synagogue.

WE HAVE a first-class editorial team based in Jerusalem and a dedicated staff of outstanding reporters spread out across the country and the world. Each section of the newspaper – from the Magazine and Metro to In Jerusalem, Billboard, Weekend, Business, Sports and Arts & Entertainment – is edited with care.

Our Internet and social media teams based in Tel Aviv provide us with the essential tools for survival in today’s world, promoting the Post via Google, Facebook and Twitter. News reports are accompanied by film and photographs from the scene, and we have recently launched a video news bulletin.

Finally, it is the sharp business acumen provided by our owner Eli Azur, CEO Ronit Hasin- Hochman and their staff that have kept The Jerusalem Post afloat in an era in which traditional media outlets are drowning.

The newspaper industry is ultimately a business that must make money to survive. As it is written in the Ethics of the Fathers, “If there is no flour, there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no flour.”

With ongoing support from our readers and advertisers, we will grow from strength to strength, just like Israel itself. We invite you to be our partners on this dramatic journey into the future. All that’s required is a strong spirit of survival.