The Forward is ending its print edition, laying off staff
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The Forward is ending its print edition, laying off staff

Editor-in-chief Jane Eisner and 40 percent of workers to be cut as American Jewish paper wraps up 120-year run

By JTA 17 January 2019, 7:34 am 4 Edit
Fran Drescher is flanked by Jane Eisner, left, and Rachel Fishman Feddersen, the Forward’s editor in chief and publisher, respectively, at the newspaper’s 120th anniversary gala at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, Nov. 13, 2017. (Jerry Lacay)
Fran Drescher is flanked by Jane Eisner, left, and Rachel Fishman Feddersen, the Forward’s editor in chief and publisher, respectively, at the newspaper’s 120th anniversary gala at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, Nov. 13, 2017. (Jerry Lacay)

The Forward, one of the most renowned and longest-running Jewish publications in the United States, will be ceasing its print edition and laying off its editor-in-chief and 40 percent of its staff.

The New York Post reported Thursday night that the Forward would be ending its print run, more than 120 years after it began publication in 1897. It will continue to exist online in English and Yiddish. A laid-off staff member posted the Post article on Facebook without comment.

The Forward’s editor-in-chief, Jane Eisner, will be laid off after more than a decade in the position, in addition to Executive Editor Dan Friedman, Art Director Kurt Hoffman, Dave Goldiner, the director of digital media, and Kathleen Chambard, the vice president of marketing, according to the Post.

“The Forward is taking the next step in making our brand more relevant to our readers and more connected to their lives,” Publisher and CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen said, according to the Post. “We are announcing that this spring The Forward will complete its evolution from what was once a print-focused publisher to become a digitally focused publication.”

The New York City-based publication began as a Yiddish-language newspaper and launched a weekly English-language print edition in 1990. In 2017, it shifted to publishing a monthly magazine. The Forward has been known historically for muckraking journalism and a left-wing editorial stance. It is a client of JTA’s.

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