1/3/2024 0 Comments Gary downie![]() As the camera pans over the headlines, it lingers on “Jewish playright compared to murderer,” featuring a photo of show creator Sinyor. The episodes end with Green at his computer, looking for his stories on the Jewish Enquirer site. What are our motivations? How and why do we cover a story? To promote local efforts that are making a difference? To cover big stories through a single lens - is it “good for the Jews?” Or to air dirty laundry in the name of truth even if it’s “bad for the Jews”? To make people feel better, or to unsettle or awaken them to action? If this is beginning to sound like an introspective part of the High Holiday liturgy, maybe that’s appropriate. We have asked ourselves how much Judaism a story needs to qualify for coverage, and why we write these stories. ![]() We have written headlines shouting a story’s most tenuous Jewish connections and profiled public figures who were born Jewish but are otherwise not Jewishly connected. We have grappled with whether a Jewy story is important, or an important story is Jewy. But Jewish journalists and editors are constantly asking - and being asked - what the Jewish angle is. There are wildly brilliant journalists who have earned multiple accolades for their courageous reporting and insightful work to bring truth to light. To be clear, this is not how all Jewish journalism works all of the time. When Green checks the website to see if his stories are prominently posted (who among us in the press can’t relate?), he discovers the “exclusives” that landed there instead: “Cloudy weather in Tel Aviv - exclusive.” “Twin brothers share bar mitzvah - exclusive.” “Jewish film festival opens with Jewish-themed film - exclusive.” “Just because we are a Jewish newspaper doesn’t mean we can’t tackle national issues,” he complains to his editor, who says he’ll consider Green’s pitches if he can “find the Jewish angle,” also described as the “Jangle.” Green interviews the new fire chief - “it was either that or a coffee morning for traumatized Israeli and Palestinian mothers, and there’s been four of those in the last two months, so here I am” - but is desperate to cover more important stories. ![]() Were there such a thing as a 23andMe test for sitcoms, the DNA results might reveal connections to the Yiddish comedy web series “YidLife Crisis,” which covers similar topics. In each of the six disquietingly funny episodes, available on Amazon Prime, Green’s editor sends him to report on stories such as a new organic kosher butcher opening or antisemitic graffiti scribbled on a wall. ![]() ![]() Stubborn, neurotic, self-centered and paranoid, he gets in his own way and challenges people and rules that annoy him, no matter the social or professional cringey, comedic fallout. Green himself (Tim Downie) is a Jewish enquirer. Take the misanthropic, self-centered protagonist of “ Curb Your Enthusiasm,” make him 30-something, add a British accent and a job with a London Jewish newspaper, and you’ve got Paul Green in “The Jewish Enquirer.”īeyond the levels of plot and character, the new British series by writer, producer and director Gary Sinyor offers criticism that may stem from the creator’s love-hate relationship with the Jewish press and prompts serious questions about what purpose and audience Jewish journalism is supposed to serve. ![]()
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