As we enter 2020, my first full year as Editor-in-Chief, I am humbled by The Forward’s history: 100 years ago, it was the largest foreign-language newspaper in the United States, with a readership rivaling The New York Times. And I am brimming with plans to build on core strengths to create your essential source for Jewish news and conversation in today’s complicated, crowded and polarized digital world.
We have added five contributing columnists to what is already the broadest and sharpest Opinion report in the field, and soon will convene our first “Forward Forum,” bringing experts together for provocative dialogue on the issues that divide us. Next week we’re launching a new monthly newsletter for women, and we are currently prototyping a new morning email (sign up here!) to better serve your needs. We have ambitious projects coming on the critical challenges our communities face: anti-Semitism on campus and in the streets; the U.S. presidential elections (and the Israeli three-peat), the dwindling population of Holocaust survivors.
With so much change at The Forward, in the journalism landscape, and in the Jewish world, one of the most important things we did last year was to clarify our Vision, Mission and Values, which we share with you below. It was the first project I worked on, even before I officially started the job, joining an inspiring series of workshops on priorities and principles. We’ve posted it around our offices and on our website. It informs everything we do, and we hope it will deepen your understanding of why our brand of journalism matters so much to our democracy.
Please let me know what you think: [email protected].
Best wishes for an exciting and engaging 2020.
— Jodi

Vision

The Forward envisions a vibrant, connected global Jewish community informed by our shared history and committed to justice, compassion, truth and our collective responsibility to bridge our divides.

Mission

The Forward is the most significant Jewish voice in American journalism. Our outstanding reporting on cultural, social and political issues inspires readers of all ages and animates conversation across generations and different segments of our community. Our English and Yiddish platforms build on a century-old legacy maintained in our archives and lead to a deeper understanding of what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century.

Values

Integrity: We provide fair and full reporting in the highest tradition of public-service journalism, a cornerstone of resilient democracy. Through our work, we help build the foundation for a just, open, pluralistic society.

Courage: We pursue the truth wherever it takes us, delivering the news, investigations, narrative storytelling, and commentary that our community needs and deserves.

Independence: As a nonprofit supported by our readers and a broad array of philanthropies, we are not beholden to any individual, institution or ideology. We are always relevant but also irreverent, challenging conventional wisdom in respectful ways as we showcase the full spectrum of voices shaping our experience.

Accountability: Through rigorous, even-handed journalism, we hold leaders accountable to the people and communities they serve. At the same time, we believe we must continuously earn the public’s trust by delivering on promises, operating with empathy, and upholding our core values.

Yiddishkeit: We revel in the richness of our culture and history, providing a smorgasbord of art and politics, argument and understanding. We also share our rich Yiddish heritage, promoting it as a living treasure for future generations. Sharing stories, in English and Yiddish, of the diverse ways Jews of all backgrounds — and our neighbors — live and think and celebrate and mourn enhances our human connections. Ours is a particularly Jewish-American way of looking at the world: contrarian, cosmopolitan, fiercely intelligent and wickedly funny.