Charles Krauthammer said: “Jews are News…It is an axiom of journalism.” Do you agree?
Rabbi Yair Robinson, Congregation Beth Emeth
A short while ago, I was listening to NPR talk about how Rwandan-backed rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo had seized control of the city of Goma, a major hub for the region, causing a massive crisis not just between those two countries but their neighbors as well, who moved to shore up their own border defenses. There was a strong sense of urgency, and a concern that the conflict would spill over into the surrounding region. It should be of massive concern. Instead, it was buried beneath so many other headlines on just about every news source I could find. Instead, more talk of what is happening with Israel, the cease-fire agreement (which was heading towards stage two at the time), Prime Minister Netanyahu’s then-upcoming meeting with President Trump in the United States, and more.
As I was listening to the report about Goma, I thought about the Krauthammer axiom Rabbi Grumbacher referenced above, with the rest of the quote, from a Time magazine essay dated to February of 1990:
Jews are news. It is an axiom of journalism. An indispensable axiom, too, because it is otherwise impossible to explain why the deeds and misdeeds of dot-on-the-map Israel get an absurdly disproportionate amount of news coverage around the world. If you are trying to guess how much coverage any Middle East event received, and you are permitted but one question, the best question you can ask about the event is: Were there any Jews in the vicinity?
The axiom seems quite relevant even in today’s media environment, 35 years later: coverage of Israel—the one and only Jewish state—far outstrips coverage today even of Ukraine and their war—never mind Goma, or Venezuela, or Hungary, or China, or Myanmar. And social media has become an amplifier of the worst kind of media attention toward Jews, especially since October 7, 2023. But even before that, all the usual antisemitic screeds (plus some new ones) found a home on X, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, sometimes shared by the Tiki-Torch “Jews will not replace us” crowd, and sometimes shared by those we had once thought were our allies against bigotry and extremism here in the US. We have also, I believe, discovered the limit of that axiom. Rarely is good news shared, nor news about combatting antisemitism or standing against hatred, or even reporting said hatred in protests on college campuses. Rather, Jews might be news, but it has to be the right news, the kind that validates existing biases, either about Israel (bad) or anti-Zionist Jewish groups and individuals like IfNotNow and Peter Beinart (good). The same NPR that shared about Goma also made a point of highlighting only those Jewish voices that agreed with a particular agenda, not the full range of Jewish insight, never mind nuance.
There is probably no way to escape the gravity of this axiom: if Krauthammer was writing this in 1990, how much of a greater problem is this today. But we can take control of our own narrative as a people, insist on a nuanced view of the issues and challenges before us, demand attention on the issues we see—sunlight always being the best antiseptic—and work with allies and friends and community members to do what we can to not only get the word out, but strive to repair what is broken together.
Rabbi Peter H. Grumbacher
How is it that while there are so few Jews in the world, there is so much written about us. Whether it is about Israel, antisemitism, Jews for whom we are proud and Jews for whom we are embarrassed, the media have picked up on it day after day, year after year. Indeed, it does seem to be true that “Jews are news,” and with our respect for freedom of the press we rarely choose to make a big deal out of negative advertisement, as it were. Hmm, maybe we should.
There was a great deal written about Madoff when he “made off” with millions of dollars from individuals and organizations, the vast majority of them being Jewish. We were ashamed that such a goniff, a thief, was a member of the tribe, but as my predecessor, Rabbi Herbert Drooz, used to say about people like Madoff, “You pay your taxes so you’re entitled to your share of nuts.” Well, “nuts” are one thing, but such unconscionable deeds of one man should make all of us realize that before we’re tempted to do something stupid (and crooked), we should pause and ask ourselves, “Is this good for the Jews?” A darn good question since the news folks will broadcast our misdeeds far more than the truly great deeds we have done across the ages.
And then there’s Israel. And then there’s antisemitism. The cameras are posed to expose; the reporters are glib to fib. Too often the miserable voice of, for example, the corrupt UN takes precedence over the voices of truth; and other news organizations will call Hamas and Hezbollah “resisters” or “militants,” anything but the terrorists they are. And since the UN is such a respected “voice for peace,” its word is priceless and must be true and must get the attention it “deserves!” Horsefeathers!
It’s news to highlight the pro-Palestinian college protesters and to label them as anti-Zionists as opposed to what they really are when you get down to it . . . virulent antisemites. Does the message of Zionism—the true message of Zionism—get the press. Heck, it won’t sell papers, so good stuff isn’t worth reporting.
Mr. Krauthammer was, alas, 100% correct.
