The Forward
The Forward (Yiddish: פֿאָרווערטס, romanized: Forverts), formerly known as The Jewish Daily Forward,[2] is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, The New York Times reported that Seth Lipsky "started an English-language offshoot of the Yiddish-language newspaper"[3] as a weekly newspaper in 1990.
For other uses, see Forward (disambiguation).Owner(s)
Forward Association
Rachel Fishman Feddersen
Jodi Rudoren
Adam Langer
Lauren Markoe
Irene Katz Connelly, Mira Fox, PJ Grisar, Beth Harpaz, Louis Keene, Jacob Kornbluh, Arno Rosenfeld
April 22, 1897
English and Yiddish
New York City
English: 28,221 (as of March 2013)[1]
In the 21st century The Forward is a digital publication with online reporting. In 2016, the publication of the Yiddish version changed its print format from a biweekly newspaper to a monthly magazine;[4] the English weekly paper followed suit in 2017. Those magazines were published until 2019.[5]
The Forward's perspective on world and national news and its reporting on the center and center-right Jewish perspective on modern United States have made it one of the most influential American Jewish publications. It is published by an independent nonprofit association.
The Yiddish Forward (Forverts) is a clearinghouse for the latest developments in the Yiddish world with almost daily news reports related to Yiddish language and culture as well as videos of cooking demonstrations, Yiddish humor and new songs. A Yiddish rendition of the Leonard Cohen song "Hallelujah", translated and performed by klezmer musician Daniel Kahn, garnered over a million views.
On January 17, 2019, the publication announced it would discontinue its print edition and only publish its English and Yiddish editions online. Layoffs of its editor-in-chief and 20% of its editorial staff were also announced.[5]
Jodi Rudoren was named editor in July 2019, and took charge in September 2019.[6]
The Forward's contributors include journalists Abigail Pogrebin,[7] Debra Nussbaum Cohen,[8] Sam Kestenbaum, and Ilene Prushner;[9] opinion columnist Deborah Lipstadt;[10] art critics Anya Ulinich[11] and Jackson Arn;[12] and cartoonist Liana Finck.[13][14]
Awards[edit]
In 2020, The Forward was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award[64] and won nine Rockower Awards.[65] The Forward won two Religion News Association Awards[66] and 34 Rockower Awards in 2021.[67] In 2022, the Forward won two Religion News Association Awards[68] and a record of 43 Rockower Awards.[69][70] In 2023, the American Jewish Press Association awarded The Forward 33 Rockower Awards.[71]
Forward Building facade
Top of Forward Building
Front view of Forward Building
At the peak of its circulation, The Forward erected a ten-story office building at 175 East Broadway on the Lower East Side, designed by architect George Boehm and completed in 1912. It was a prime location, across the street from Seward Park. The building was embellished with marble columns and panels and stained glass windows. The facade features carved bas relief portraits of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels[72] (who co-authored, with Marx, The Communist Manifesto), and Ferdinand Lassalle, founder of the first mass German labor party. A fourth relief portrays a person whose identity has not been clearly established, and has been identified as Wilhelm Liebknecht,[73] Karl Liebknecht,[74] or August Bebel.[75][76] The paper moved out in 1974, and in the real-estate boom of the 1990s the building was converted to condominiums.[23][77] The Forward, which in 2007 was headquartered at East 33rd Street,[44] is in the Financial District as of 2020.[78]
Lists[edit]
The "Forward 50" is a list of 50 Jewish Americans "who have made a significant impact on the Jewish story in the past year", published annually as an editorial opinion of The Forward since 1994. The list was the initiative of Seth Lipsky, founding editor of the English Forward.[79]
According to the magazine's website, this is not a scientific study, but rather the opinion of staff members, assisted by nominations from readers. The Forward does not endorse or support any of the people in the listing. The rankings are divided into different categories (which may vary from year to year): Top Picks, Politics, Activism, Religion, Community, Culture, Philanthropy, Scandals, Sports and, as of 2010, Food.[79]
The list also includes those Jews whose impact in the past year has been dramatic and damaging.[79]
In 2021, The Forward published the "Forward Shortlist" instead, which named seven people.[80] In celebration of the magazine's 125th anniversary in 2022, the "Forward 125" was introduced, a list of the 125 most influential American Jews from 1897 to 2022.[81]
In 2022, The Forward published its list of "The 125 greatest Jewish movie scenes of all time."[82]
The Forward in English[edit]
The Forward began publishing in English in the 1980s, and a 2019 review observed that both Yiddish and English were being produced for its online edition.[83]
Funding for the English edition became available when The Forward sold its FM radio station.[84]
While the idea was said to have germinated in 1983, when the Yiddish-only paper "announced that it was going to retreat to weekly publication,"[84] and the actualization of an English edition as an ongoing paper in 1990,[3] by 2010 Seth Lipsky was described as "formerly editor of the English-language edition."[85]