An earlier post on this blog has been noticed and privately commented on by several members of the Jewish media, both locally and interstate.
This blog stands by the position that the Australian Jewish News is really missing out by not having a significant quota of Perth news within the paper. Whilst accepting that efforts have been made by the AJN to obtain Perth content, there remains a big blind spot in the Jewish media when it comes to the Western seaboard. There is so much happening within Perth Jewry that is a microcosm of a model community, and to satisfy the headline hunters, we also have a fair share of unsavoury activity within our midst. All of this is lost to Australian Jewry and its historical record due to the lack of media and reporting.
Locally, the postion is no different. Unfortuantely the Maccabean is a publication that has been unwillingly trapped into being a newsletter of reproduced news complimented by local notices about activities. The Maccabean is edited by volunteers, and has no professional journalistic resources supporting it at all. Although the Maccabean deems itself to be a newspaper, it is hard to argue that a newspaper can function without professional correspondents.
Some time back discussions took place some time back to merge the AJN and Maccabean. The community in Perth was wary of that, and this position has probably been vindicated by the sudden arrival and departure of the AJN, who opted to work outside the community, but not within.
Over time this blog may well develop into a source of information and news about Perth Jewry as a new form of media. That will take time. However, once the content of this blog is in the public domain it is accessible to those who wish to take matters further. Such is the nature of a blog, our information will invariably be opinion, not investigative journalism.
In the meantime, the discussion being promoted is that Jewish Perth is a good source of news. The point being made by Jewgleperth is that neither the local or national Jewish media have the journalistic resources to uncover and convey that which is worthy of reporting. The broader profile of the Perth Jewish community unfairly suffers as a result.