Gary Rosenblatt is Bogged Down By Bloggers

Gary Rosenblatt is Bogged Down By Bloggers

I say B'H' to bloggers like Steven I. Weiss, Luke Ford and the Jewish Whistleblower. If it wasn't for the three dedicated bloggers many stories about alleged and convicted sex offenders would go unnoticed.

Steven I. Weiss was able to expose the case of Michael Ozair.

Luke Ford was instrumental in having the voices of three survivors of Mark Gafni (AKA: Mordechai Gafni, Marc Winiarz) heard. Luke was also instrumental in telling the story of Rabbi Eleizer Eisgrau and Rabbi Yaakov Menken.

Jewish Whistleblower was instrumental in making sure the world was aware of what was really going on with the case against Rabbi Mordechai Tendler.

There's a problem with the Journalistic ethics on some of the blogs that are out there today, but I have to tell you that papers like the Jewish Week is NOT always a friend to survivors of abuse. I look at how the paper reported on the case of Mark Gafni, and then I learn from bloggers like Steven I. Weiss, Luke Ford and Jewish Whistleblower, the problem could stem from the fact that Gary Rosenblatt is a long time good friend of Rabbi Saul Berman, who is one of Gafni's strongest supporters. It also turned out that the assistant editor of the paper's sister is Naomi Marks. Another one of Gafni's supporters. Without the exposure of these facts one might believe that Gafni has done his repentance for his crimes, and all is hunky dory with the three survivors.

So read the article below, and then read the work that Steven I. Weiss, Luke Ford and the Jewish Whistleblower has done in exposing sexual abuse and assault in Jewish communities.

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(04/01/2005)
Bogged Down By Bloggers
Gary Rosenblatt - Editor and Publisher
http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editcolcontent.php3


Though I am getting used to it, I still find it disconcerting to read about myself –– and my journalistic motivations — on Internet blogs, especially because more often than not the information isn’t accurate. Various writers, often anonymous, claim to know what investigative stories I am working on, or not working on, and why, or why not, though none of them have ever asked me.

That’s not the way journalism is supposed to work, but there’s not much I can do about it. Over the years in this profession I’ve gotten thicker skin, but there are people whose lives are more private than mine whose reputations and character are maligned in these reports. They have no one to turn to in order to set the record straight, and that’s just not right. But it’s too late to turn back the clock on so-called progress as some hail the new age of “participatory journalism” represented by blogs.

Blogs, or more formally Web logs, are diaries or journals on the Internet to which others can reply, creating an instant and interactive environment. They are everywhere these days, covering politics to porn, and they have had a strong impact on journalism and journalistic ethics, or the lack thereof, as the rules of the game keep changing.

There is something very appealing about having one’s own blog. It’s easy to do, costs nothing, and before you know it, you can be sitting at home and pontificating on any and all topics for all the world to read, if people click on your site. Conservative estimates say there are at least a million Americans now with their own blogs. To be sure, there are some very thoughtful and worthwhile bloggers out there, and they tend to be the ones who identify themselves and have an expertise in and passion for the subjects they write about.

What bothers me, though, is that in this still emerging field, there is no accountability and there are no professional standards to be met. In the rush to get a story out first, the emphasis is on timeliness rather than accuracy, with seemingly little regard –– or responsibility –– for printing rumors or theories that are untrue. So people who are mentioned and maligned by an anonymous blogger have no recourse.

I wouldn’t seek legal or medical advice from an amateur attorney or physician who insisted on remaining nameless, yet there are countless people reading blogs on the Web by would-be journalists whose reports go unsubstantiated and unedited, and the results are often hurtful, damaging people’s characters and reputations.

Still, like it or not, bloggers have become an acceptable part of the media. For the first time, a number of them were given press credentials to cover the national political conventions last year, and some have written items that have led to major news stories. Most notable were the blog reports that resulted in Trent Lott’s resignation as Senate majority leader (for saying the United States would have been better off if segregationist Strom Thurmond had been elected president in 1948), and Dan Rather’s fall at CBS regarding documents, which turned out to be dubious, used to report on President Bush’s National Guard Service. In those and other cases, bloggers picked up on information the mainstream media downplayed or ignored, and kept the story alive.

There are a number of bloggers writing on Jewish news topics, with a special interest in which scandals are being reported, which aren’t, and why. The blogs written by people who identify themselves, some of whom are journalists, tend to be more responsible and informed, though even here the standards for reporting are based solely on the conscience and professionalism of the individual.

More upsetting are the bloggers who criticize individuals by name, make accusations against rabbis and communal leaders, but don’t have the guts to identify themselves, or bother to interview the people they write about.

One of the better known Jewish reporting blogs calls for “accountability and transparency within our institutions and leadership,” a noble goal, indeed. But the “About me” area on the home page where the blogger usually posts some details about him or her self is empty. To demand full disclosure of others without identifying one’s self seems the height of chutzpah and hypocrisy to me.

There can be a productive relationship between responsible blogging and journalism. Amateur reporting and personal publishing has its place, emphasizing the grassroots qualities of accessibility and interactivity, and prodding journalists to do better and more enterprising work. But the heart of journalism is still in original reporting based on fairness and accuracy, where one is judged by one’s output.

Call me old-fashioned, but I still think you do your best work if your reputation is on the line every time you write.

E-mail: Gary@jewishweek.org