Postscript: The editor's farewell
By DAVID HOROVITZ
07/01/2011 02:35
On October 1, 2004, in my first column on this page as the new editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post,
I celebrated the newspaper’s editorial independence and vowed not to
tie the Post to one or other political party or politician. Rather, I
promised, the Post, a
repository of many fine journalistic minds, would try to use its
combined brainpower to formulate positions on the key issues of the day
that we believed best served the well-being of Israel and the Jewish
people. Under my editorship, I wrote, “We may be hard to pigeon-hole. So
much the better.”
I wrote, too, that I regarded it as “an immense responsibility to be editing The Jerusalem Post
at this fragile juncture in the short history of modern Israel.” We
face daily dangers, and challenges to our very legitimacy around the
world, I noted, but the greatest threat to our existence, I suggested,
“stems from internal hatreds, from an absence of moderation in our
domestic climate of debate. With that in mind, as today’s Israel
agonizes over which policies will ensure a secure, predominantly Jewish
and democratic entity,” I promised, “I will do my utmost to ensure that
the Post serves as a platform for a wide range of opinion pieces, constructive dialogue drawn from across the political spectrum.”
Finally, I wrote, The Jerusalem Post
is conscious that you, our readers, come to this paper to learn the
details of Israel’s daily development, and make personal, business and
all manner of other decisions based on what you read here. Therefore, I
concluded, “we will strive to maintain the highest reporting standards,
with coverage and analysis as informative and fair-minded as we can make
it.”
After almost seven fulfilling years, as we announced in the
paper two weeks ago, I have decided to move on, and this is my last
column as editor-in-chief. I hope you will feel that I honored those
commitments I made to you in October 2004. I know that my colleague and
friend Steve Linde, who I am delighted is taking over from me, shares my
passion for our profession and my respect for our readers.
Shabbat shalom.
– David Horovitz