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Jewish News Syndicate Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_News_Syndicate

Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) is a news agency and wire service that primarily covers Jewish and Israel-related topics and news. While officially nonpartisan, compared to its older competitor, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, JNS is considered to be more conservative.[1]

History

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The wire service was launched in September 2011 with an exclusive U.S. distribution deal with the free Israeli daily Israel Hayom. It is published by Russel Pergament and Joshua Katzen. Its editor-in-chief is American journalist Jonathan S. Tobin[2] and its CEO and Jerusalem bureau chief is Alex Traiman.[3]

Among its top contributors, editors and reporters are Melanie Phillips, Ruthie Blum, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Fiamma Nirenstein, Menachem Wecker, Carin M. Smilk, Mark Regev, Steve Linde, Yaakov Lappin, Akiva Van Koningsveld, David Isaac, Joshua Marks, Andrew Bernard, Mike Wagenheim, Izzy Salant, Aaron Bandler, Canaan Lidor, Etgar Lefkovits and Josh Hasten. Caroline Glick was JNS's top columnist until she was appointed International Affairs Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February 2025.[4]

By 2013, JNS was growing quickly, with left-leaning Jewish newspaper The Forward crediting its pro-Israel perspective and cheaper price compared to its larger and older competitor, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). The wire then employed five staff members. Approximately 40 new outlets used JNS, compared to 88 outlets using JTA. Subscribers to JNS paid between $400 to $700 per month, with the first year free, for access to the wire service.[2] In 2015, JNS had between 40 and 55 newspapers, with a third in the free trial period.[5] The editor-in-chief until 2016 was Jacob Kamaras.[6] Until 2020, JNS's largest single donor was Sheldon Adelson.[7]

JNS won its first two Rockower Awards in 2019.[8] Since then, it has won awards every year, winning 10 in 2025. It won a record 11 in 2024. [9] JNS has broken stories later reported by Al Jazeera English,[10] the Jewish Telegraphic Agency[11] and the Jewish Journal.[12] From 2023 until 2025, JNS distributed the Dry Bones comic strip previously carried by The Jerusalem Post, until the death of its creator, Yaakov Kirschen.[13]

It held the inaugural JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem on April 27–28, 2025, at the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem. More than 800 people attended addresses by, among others, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee.[14]

Editorial positions

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In 2015, The Forward described JNS as focusing heavily on Israeli security threats. Frequent columnists Ben Cohen and Stephen M. Flatow wrote often against the Iran Nuclear Deal and the Obama administration more generally, and the JNS board included Middle East Forum president and pro-Israel hawk Daniel Pipes and neoconservative Harvard professor Ruth Wisse.[5]

JNS's publisher Russel Pergament described the wire service as a "nonpartisan, objective, straight down the middle newswire with no axe to grind except one: to see that Israel gets a fair shake in the news."[2] "There are some editors who do not want to upset their readers so they’ll publish a JNS news brief about someone in Israel inventing a new flavor of ice cream, but they won’t run anything that’s kind of scary," he told the Jewish Press.[15]

JNS has been described as conservative,[16] right-leaning,[2] and more hawkish than JTA. According to Rick Kestenbaum of the American Jewish Press Association, editors of Jewish media outlets are aware of JNS's ideology and difference from JTA.[5]

Finances

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The Adelson Foundation was revealed in 2015 to be the largest single funder of JNS.[5] Between 2013 and 2015, the Adelson Foundation had contributed over $1.2 million.[5][17] In 2015, Adam Milstein donated $12,500.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Sheldon Adelson is bankrolling JNS.org". December 22, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d Nathan-Kazis, Josh (June 28, 2013). "Fledgling Jewish News Service Rocks Boat With Strident Pro-Israel Message". The Forward. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  3. ^ "Alex Traiman Archives". JNS.org. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
  4. ^ Lefkovits, Etgar (February 2, 2025). "JNS senior contributing editor Caroline Glick appointed as adviser to Netanyahu". JNS.org. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e Nathan-Kazis, Josh (December 22, 2015). "Sheldon Adelson's Jewish Media Secret Revealed". The Forward. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  6. ^ Lapin, Andrew (November 30, 2021). "The new owner of a San Diego Jewish news site has no qualms about blurring journalism and PR". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  7. ^ Zonszein, Mairav (February 5, 2020). "What happened to The Forward?". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on February 6, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  8. ^ "Tobin wins JNS's first journalism honors with AJPA's top columnist award". Columbus Jewish News. June 28, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  9. ^ "JNS Takes Home 11 Awards in AJPA Journalism Contest". JNS. June 5, 2024. Archived from the original on June 5, 2024. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  10. ^ "US extends Iran nuclear cooperation sanctions waivers". Al Jazeera English. March 31, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2025. The Jewish News Syndicate, a news outlet predominantly focused on Israel and the Jewish world, first reported that the United States was expected to renew the waivers, citing two sources familiar with the decision.
  11. ^ Schwartz, Penny (August 31, 2018). "Tufts Students Say 'Colonizing Palestine' Class Demonizes Israel". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved April 16, 2025. The course, taught by Thomas Abowd, a faculty member in the American Studies program, was first reported by Jewish News Syndicate.
  12. ^ Bandler, Aaron (August 7, 2019). "83 Jewish and Pro-Israel Organizations Call for 'Safeguards' in Response to Drafted Anti-Israel Curriculum". Jewish Journal. Retrieved April 16, 2025. First reported by Jewish News Syndicate on August 2, the drafted ESMC would require students to study pro-BDS figures like Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Women's March, Inc. leader Linda Sarsour, and features songs that provide odes to "Free Palestine."
  13. ^ Linde, Steve (April 14, 2025). "'Dry Bones' cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen dies at 87". JNS.org. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
  14. ^ Think. "JNS International Policy Summit 2025". ws.eventact.com. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
  15. ^ Pergament, Russel (October 22, 2014). "'Almost A Conspiracy In The Media To Delegitimize Israel': An Interview with Maverick Publisher Russel Pergament". The Jewish Press. Interviewed by Elliot Resnick. Archived from the original on February 14, 2015. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  16. ^ Kampeas, Ron (August 23, 2019). "For this prominent Jewish Republican, Trump's 'disloyalty' jab is a bridge too far". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  17. ^ Oster, Marcy (December 22, 2015). "Report: Adelson largest funder of Jewish news service". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  18. ^ Kane, Alex (March 25, 2019). "Right-Wing Donor Adam Milstein Has Spent Millions of Dollars to Stifle the BDS Movement and Attack Critics of Israeli Policy". The Intercept. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
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