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By DASH STAFF
US STUDENTS on a Masa trip to Israel 390 (photo credit: Courtesy of JAFI)
US STUDENTS on a Masa trip to Israel 390
(photo credit: Courtesy of JAFI)
Recently, I was lucky to have a very enlightening discussion with D’’ash reader and writer, 16-year-old Mai Gutman from Australia. You may remember her feature from last March’s issue, “The Inside, From the Outside: A reader’s perspective on Israel,” where she described her most recent trip to Israel and what impact it had on her. If you’ve had similar experiences, we’d love to publish your stories too! Just send us an email at dash@jpost.com, and we can go from there.
Okay, back to the conversation: Beyond the annual survey (which was printed in last month’s issue: You still can turn them in!) I asked her to look at our magazines from 2011, read through every headline, and tell me which headlines were her favorites.
Her answers were quite revealing: She picked 19 headlines, 13 of which were from feature articles:• Israel’s top 20 inventions of all time• Diplomacy on wheels• Zooming in on the Schalits• Recent Israeli breakthroughs• What are holocaust humor’s limits?• Politically correct• Hottest young names in Israeli music• Smashing the glass ceiling• An aliya journal• A reader’s perspective• What is the media’s role in coexistence?• The rolls royce of Zionism Three were from “Ma kore,” our two-page news updates: • A lost tribe from India coming to Israel• Ambitious plans to reduce smoking• Road deaths up this year Interestingly, three were from our one-page feature “Defending Israel”:• Educating US students about IDF: Advocating for Israel and creating dialogue • Memoirs of a mefakedet• I did it for me Last, only one “Top Ten” made it to her top headlines, which was December’s “Top ten moments of 2011.”
Her answers revealed several insights: the headlines that touched on social issues, peace and justice, Israeli innovations and trends, and aliya articles captured her attention the most. Also, “Defending Israel” was a strong section for her.
However, “Top Ten” seems to be the section that needs the most work. In general, we’ve made “Top Ten” a travel based section, but I could see from Mai’s answers that readers, especially those who don’t come to Israel often, may not be that interested in travel. Instead, we’ll make this section more about “alltime” Israeli top tens, which will hopefully provide more interesting cultural facts to D’’ash readers.
You agree with Mai’s assessment? Disagree? Let us know at dash@jpost.com or on our Facebook page “Dash_Mag”!