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Conference attendees included EU press officers, high-profile Jewish community representatives and editors of Jewish media from countries such as Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Holland, Denmark, Israel, Italy, the United Kingdom, Georgia, Russia and Belgium.
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BRUSSELS (EJP)---In line with its goal to enrich human life through the dissemination of Jewish information and culture,” the European Jewish Press hosted the first conference of Jewish media in Europe on 25 February 2010.
The event, “Jewish Media in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities,” which was supported by the European Jewish Development Fund, drew around 50 people to Brussels, seat of the EU bodies.
Attendees included EU press officers, high-profile Jewish community representatives and editors of Jewish media from countries such as Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Holland, Denmark, Israel, Italy, the United Kingdom, Georgia, Russia and Belgium.
Following introductory remarks by EJP’s managing director, Yossi Lempkowicz, the conference consisted of six sessions under the following headings: The Media and the EU; Jewish Media in Europe; Globalized Media: is there a place for sectarian media in the future?; The Future of European Jewry and the Sustainability of Cooperation with Jewish Media; Media’s Role in EU-Israel Relations.
Echoing the EU’s transnational aims, the meeting provided journalists a unique opportunity to network across political and linguistic borders. These connections were formed through the lively exchange of ideas during sessions but also, importantly, over lunch and coffee breaks dedicated to the sharing of information about publishing strategies, challenges and strategies for strengthening regional ties.
Highlights of the day included a discussion of the range of potential audiences for Jewish media, emphasized in a talk given by Guido Vitale (editor of the newspaper of Italian Jewry, 'Pagine Ebraiche') in which he, and others, argued that Jewish publications should consider non-Jewish audiences as their ideal readers, or risk “Writing just to comfort oneself.”
Many of the journalists in attendance are indeed well-poised to write for a general audience given their extensive backgrounds in mainstream journalism that foreground more recent interventions into Jewish media.
When asked what European Jewish media outlets had in common, Miriam Shaviv (former feature writer, Jerusalem Post and foreign editor, The Jewish Chronicle, London) affirmed the inchoate nature of pan-European Jewish media connections, stating that the conference was the first time players in this domain had come together to discuss common goals and disparate experiences.
At the same time, Nicolas Zomersztajn (Editor-in-Chief of 'Regards' in Brussels) reminded the audience that all Jewish publications perhaps share the common burden – and pleasure - of following historian Simon Dubnow’s legendary injunction to “write and record” Jewish experience, especially at a time when the stories of minorities in Europe are so contentious and contested.
As expressed in a letter to the participants, conference organizers hope to “create a regular forum to discuss topics of utmost interest for the media, decision makers and the general public.”
Potential plans for future regular conference meetings involve the inclusion of media representatives from the United States, especially, given its rich history of Jewish publishing.