Gary Rosenblatt
Encyclopedia
Gary Rosenblatt is the editor and publisher of The Jewish Week
The Jewish Week
The Jewish Week is an independent weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. The Jewish Week covers news relating to the Jewish community in NYC and has world-wide distribution.-Editorial staff:...

 of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, a position he has held since 1993. Previously he was the editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times
Baltimore Jewish Times
The Baltimore Jewish Times is a subscription-based weekly community publication serving the Jewish community of Baltimore.-History:Baltimore's oldest and largest Jewish publication, it has been described as "the largest weekly in Maryland and one of the most respected independent Jewish...

 for 19 years.

Early career

In 1972, Charles "Chuck" Buerger, the grandson of the founder of the Baltimore Jewish Times
Baltimore Jewish Times
The Baltimore Jewish Times is a subscription-based weekly community publication serving the Jewish community of Baltimore.-History:Baltimore's oldest and largest Jewish publication, it has been described as "the largest weekly in Maryland and one of the most respected independent Jewish...

, became the weekly's publisher. In 1974 he hired Gary Rosenblatt as editor and over the next two decades the paper gained national respect and prominence. The two expanded the scope of the paper's coverage, as well as the size; in the 1980s the paper regularly exceeded 200 pages, and circulation peaked at over 20,000. In 1984 Buerger acquired The Jewish News of Detroit
The Detroit Jewish News
The Detroit Jewish News is a weekly community newspaper serving the Jewish community of Detroit. It bills itself as "the largest, most comprehensive Jewish newspaper in North America." The newspaper was founded in 1942. In the 1980s it was purchased by Charles "Chuck" Buerger, the owner of the...

, and Rosenblatt was named editor, in addition to his responsibilities in Baltimiore. In 1988 Buerger bought The Atlanta Jewish Times
The Atlanta Jewish Times
The Atlanta Jewish Times is a weekly community newspaper serving the Jewish community of Atlanta, Georgia, United States.The newspaper began publishing as the Southern Israelite in 1925. In the 1980s, it was purchased by Charles "Chuck" Buerger, the owner of the Baltimore Jewish Times...

, adding Rosenblatt as editor there as well. The Detroit and Atlanta papers were given similar makeovers, including an emphasis on more and deeper local reporting and enhanced graphics, before Rosenblatt left for The Jewish Week in 1993.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center's Holocaust Memorial

While at the Baltimore Jewish Times, Rosenblatt published an article on September 14, 1984 titled "The Simon Wiesenthal Center: State-of-the-art Activism or Hollywood Hype?" analyzing whether Wiesenthal Center
Simon Wiesenthal Center
The Simon Wiesenthal Center , with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, was established in 1977 and named for Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter. According to its mission statement, it is "an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to repairing the world one step at a time...

 officials were truthful in marketing their Holocaust museum as a non-sectarian, humanitarian institution in order to receive funding from the state of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

This article was one of two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in the category of Special Reporting in 1985. The honor marked the first time an article in a Jewish publication was cited in the Pulitzer competition.

Sexual Harassment Investigation of Baruch Lanner

On June 23, 2000, The Jewish Week published an article by Rosenblatt titled "Stolen Innocence," investigating a long list of sexual harassment charges against Orthodox rabbi Baruch Lanner, an Orthodox Union
Orthodox Union
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America , more popularly known as the Orthodox Union , is one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. It is best known for its kosher food preparation supervision service...

 educator who worked closely with teenagers for more than three decades. The article also reported that the Orthodox Union was aware of Lanner's behavior but chose not take any action. On learning of the newspaper's investigation—which included on-the-record interviews with many of Lanner's victims—OU officials asked Rosenblatt not to go to press, but he did anyway. As a result of the article, and subsequent reports by Rosenblatt on Rabbi Lanner's alleged offenses, the OU forced the rabbi to resign and commissioned an independent inquiry; two congregations suspended their OU membership in protest; more victims came forward and filed complaints with local prosecutors; at least two rabbis used their pulpits to castigate the paper and a major advertiser threatened to lead a boycott.

Lanner was arrested, and on June 27, 2002 he was convicted of sexually abusing two teenage girls in incidents dating back to 1992 and 1997. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. An appeals court dismissed one of the child endangerment charges in 2005. He was released on parole on January 10, 2008, and will remain on parole for four years.

The Jewish Week received both praise for its reporting as well as criticism for airing the Jewish community's dirty laundry and violating the Jewish prohibition against malicious gossip (lashon hara
Lashon hara
The Hebrew term lashon hara is a term for gossip. It also refers to the prohibition in Jewish Law of telling gossip....

).

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