AJPA Conference 2011

AJPA President Amy Doty welcomes new member Alan Smason

The American Jewish Press Association (AJPA) met in Dallas this week for its 44th year as the consortium that represents the oldest and most prominent of Jewish publications as well as some of the very best minds in Jewish journalism. The conference dealt with a number of issues confronting traditional print organizations and how they are coping with dwindling subscription bases, higher costs and increased competition from newer technologies such as web-based news sites and applications designed for mobile users. Demographer Ira Sheshkin gave attendees a lot of information to consider about the changing habits of the Jewish newspaper reading community and what the lack of young readership portends for the future of Jewish broadsheets, tabloids and glossy magazines. Several panels featuring major players and commentators spoke on topics such as issues confronting present-day Israel as well as offering sound practices attendees could use in their businesses. The conference was crowned with the presentation of this year's Rockower Awards for excellence in Jewish journalism. Dozens of submissions from newspapers and magazines were grouped by distribution size and critiqued by an anonymous slate of judges who determined their selections as this year's very best. Originally scheduled for Denver, the conference was switched to Dallas at the Galleria Westin Hotel for logistical reasons, graciously hosted in part at the Galleria Westin Hotel by Texas Jewish Press Vice-President and current AJPA President Amy Doty. All meals served were strictly kosher with supervision by Dallas' own Vaad Hakashrus and attendees were treated to an indoor feast featuring Texas-style barbeque on Tuesday night sponsored by Washington public relations firm Rabinowitz-Dorf Communications. Kudos also go out to AJPA Executive Director Leslie Honaker and assistant Alex Trujillo for their work in organizing and coordinating the conference.

American Jewish Press Association

Once a year the American Jewish Press Association meets to conduct business and assess where the industry is and where it is likely to be going. Previous year's meetings have been held in San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Evanston, Illinois. This year the site of what is the largest gathering of Jewish press and public relations firms that cater to the Jewish community is Scottsdale, Arizona, a sleepy desert suburban locale not far from busy Phoenix. A partner in this year's event is Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Media. Numerous faculty members from the school have taken part in panel discussions or have headed up interesting topics such as Digital Entrepreneurship. Much of the topics have dealt with the concept of social networking and how newspapers can take an active role in integrating social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter into their digital presence on the Internet. For some it is a logical next step; for others it is a frightening reality that looms large. Many have already placed some social networking into their scheme of things, but others have yet to figure out how to harness all of the possibilities and pitfalls these sites and applications portend. There is also the concept of raising ad revenue through this kind of integration as web traffic is increased and, by extension, more eyeballs should translate into more page views and unique visitors to newspaper websites. While not everyone has been ecstatic about all of the sessions, most have been satisfied that much of what has been discussed is pertinent to the future of newspapers and journalism. There's more to consider for the final day tomorrow, but first the Rockower Awards, the equivalent of the "Pulitzer Prize" for Jewish journalism, will be announced. It is all part of a very well-orchestrated conference and organizers are to be congratulated for a job well done.

AJPA Conference

Former AJPA president Rob Certner with a former CJN reporter at left.

Like everyone else, the members of the American Jewish Press Association (AJPA) have been hit hard by the economic crisis. Moreover, the newspaper industry in general and niche publishing in particular have been severely bleeding red ink due to lack of advertising and shrinking readership. The advent of the Internet as a main source of news for young readership has cast a pall over the future of the newspaper industry. Nevertheless, the AJPA, an organization representing 250 Jewish organizations, publishers, advertising sales directors and writers decided to meet this week in Evanston, Illinois (just north of Chicago). It's hard to encapsulate three days of mostly round-the-clock work, but I will endeavor to do so. Frankly, the demeanor of the attendees was somber, but hopeful. Much of the sessions employed by the AJPA gave members opportunities to evaluate where their institutions could make cuts and use their abilities to maintain the course during the turbulent financial times ahead. The American Press Institute's Andrew Davis representing its Newspaper Next project led several SWOTs exercises to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to each member's organization. This took over two days of concentrated introspection and evaluation. It was very revealing and, hopefully, provided members some insight into where they can apply first or second aid once they return to their respective publications. Aside from the work there were opportunities to network and to glean from respected longtime members how they are weathering this current crisis. Thursday night the Rockower Awards for excellence in Jewish journalism were acknowledged in short ceremonies at the Spertus Museum on Michigan Avenue across from historic Grant Park at Lake Michigan. The comraderie among AJPA members was palpable, but genuine. I got to catch up with retiring Cleveland Jewish News (CJN) CEO Rob Certner as well as present CJN advertising director Jennifer Woomer and publisher/editor-in-chief Michael Bennett. It was great to see them as well as to see others whose previous stewardship in the AJPA have made them respected veterans. It was the first time in three decades that my former editor, Cynthia Dettelbach, who just retired from the CJN at the end of last month, had failed to attend the AJPA conference. Hats off to AJPA executive director Toby Dershowitz and associate director Natasha Nadel, whose hard work made the conference a glittering success. Although a decision hasn't been made yet on next year's conference, I am hoping to attend that as well. The future of Jewish journalism may be less sure than it has in the past, but the AJPA is working to guarantee that those who survive will be better prepared to meet the challenge head on.