Jonathan S. Tobin
Encyclopedia
Jonathan S. Tobin is the senior online editor of Commentary magazine, a neo-Conservative monthly magazine covering politics, international affairs, Judaism and social, cultural and literary issues.
Tobin was executive editor of The Jewish Exponent
in Philadelphia from 1998 through 2008.
He is a frequent commentator on domestic politics, Israel, and Jewish affairs. His syndicated weekly column, “View from America,” appears in The Jerusalem Post
. Tobin lectures widely across the United States on college campuses and to Jewish organizations and synagogues, and has appeared on CNN, BBC Radio, FOX News, and local network affiliates to discuss politics and Jewish issues.
Blogger Luke Ford
has called Tobin “the most right-wing editor of a Jewish weekly in the US,” but according to Tobin, “I lost my credentials as a real right-winger any number of times because I've taken stands on issues they disagree with. I've taken shots at the right consistently when I think they're wrong. More consistently than when my colleagues on the left take shots at the left."
In his 2001 book, “Pack of Thieves,” U.S. News & World Report
correspondent Richard Chesnoff wrote that Tobin is “one of the most thoughtful figures in American Jewish letters.” In 2006, in the Israeli weekly Yated Ne’eman, columnist Jonathan Rosenblum
referred to Tobin as “probably the best writer in the Anglo-Jewish Press.”
In 2003, Tobin told an interviewer that Jewish Journalism has improved in quality over last 20 years, but that there are constraints because many American Jewish newspapers are owned by Jewish federations, rather than being independent corporations. This problem, he said, is not different from the problems faced by other newspapers: “Nobody at the Philadelphia Inquirer reports aggressively on Knight-Ridder Corp.” He told an interviewer for the New York Times that “"My job as editor is to talk about things people are not willing to talk about." In the same article, the Times wrote that “In his three-year tenure at The Ledger, an independently owned newspaper, Mr. Tobin, a Long Island native, has turned the once-stodgy weekly into a plucky newspaper with stories on abuses at a local Jewish nursing home and domestic violence among Jews.”
Tobin was profiled in the Philadelphia Business Journal
on July 26, 2002 (“Faith in the press” ) and in Press – the magazine of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association — in its November 2002 issue (“Exponential Editor”).
Tobin was executive editor of The Jewish Exponent
The Jewish Exponent
The Jewish Exponent is a weekly community newspaper serving the Jewish community of Philadelphia. Published continuously since 1887, its circulation was over 55,000 in 2006....
in Philadelphia from 1998 through 2008.
He is a frequent commentator on domestic politics, Israel, and Jewish affairs. His syndicated weekly column, “View from America,” appears in The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
. Tobin lectures widely across the United States on college campuses and to Jewish organizations and synagogues, and has appeared on CNN, BBC Radio, FOX News, and local network affiliates to discuss politics and Jewish issues.
Blogger Luke Ford
Luke Ford
Luke Ford is an American writer, blogger, and former pornography gossip columnist known for his disclosures and traditionalist Jewish religious views.-Personal:Ford moved to California in 1977...
has called Tobin “the most right-wing editor of a Jewish weekly in the US,” but according to Tobin, “I lost my credentials as a real right-winger any number of times because I've taken stands on issues they disagree with. I've taken shots at the right consistently when I think they're wrong. More consistently than when my colleagues on the left take shots at the left."
In his 2001 book, “Pack of Thieves,” U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
correspondent Richard Chesnoff wrote that Tobin is “one of the most thoughtful figures in American Jewish letters.” In 2006, in the Israeli weekly Yated Ne’eman, columnist Jonathan Rosenblum
Jonathan Rosenblum
Jonathan Rosenblum is the director, spokesperson, and founder of Jewish Media Resources, an organization which attempts to clarify journalists' understanding of Haredi Jewish society.- Career :...
referred to Tobin as “probably the best writer in the Anglo-Jewish Press.”
In 2003, Tobin told an interviewer that Jewish Journalism has improved in quality over last 20 years, but that there are constraints because many American Jewish newspapers are owned by Jewish federations, rather than being independent corporations. This problem, he said, is not different from the problems faced by other newspapers: “Nobody at the Philadelphia Inquirer reports aggressively on Knight-Ridder Corp.” He told an interviewer for the New York Times that “"My job as editor is to talk about things people are not willing to talk about." In the same article, the Times wrote that “In his three-year tenure at The Ledger, an independently owned newspaper, Mr. Tobin, a Long Island native, has turned the once-stodgy weekly into a plucky newspaper with stories on abuses at a local Jewish nursing home and domestic violence among Jews.”
Tobin was profiled in the Philadelphia Business Journal
Philadelphia Business Journal
The Philadelphia Business Journal is a weekly business-oriented newspaper published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is published by the American City Business Journals....
on July 26, 2002 (“Faith in the press” ) and in Press – the magazine of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association — in its November 2002 issue (“Exponential Editor”).
Awards
- 2007 Pennsylvania Society of Professional Journalists Spotlight Award for Commentary – 1st Place
- 2006 Pennsylvania Newspaper AssociationPennsylvania Newspaper AssociationThe Pennsylvania Newspaper Association is a trade group serving newspapers in Pennsylvania. The PNA seeks to "advance the interests of Pennsylvania newspapers" and protect the "free and independent press." It represents the newspaper industry in governmental affairs and provides public educational...
Keystone Press Award for Editorial Writing - 1st Place - 2006 Pennsylvania Society of Professional Journalists Spotlight Award for Editorial Writing -1st Place
- 2006 American Jewish Press Association Louis Rapaport Award for Commentary - 1st Place
- 2005 Greater Philadelphia Society of Professional Journalists Award for Best Editorial Columnist - 1st Place
- 2005 Greater Philadelphia Society of Professional Journalists Chapter Award for Best Criticism - 1st Place
- 2005 American Jewish Press Association Award for Editorial Writing - 1st Place
- 2002 Philadelphia Press Association Media Award for Column Writing - 1st Place
- 2002 American Jewish Press Association Louis Rapaport Award for Commentary - 1st Place
- 2001 Pennsylvania Newspaper AssociationPennsylvania Newspaper AssociationThe Pennsylvania Newspaper Association is a trade group serving newspapers in Pennsylvania. The PNA seeks to "advance the interests of Pennsylvania newspapers" and protect the "free and independent press." It represents the newspaper industry in governmental affairs and provides public educational...
Keystone Press Award for Sports Column - 1st Place - 2000 Pennsylvania Society of Professional Journalists Spotlight Award for Editorial Writing - 1st Place
- 2000 Philadelphia Press Association Media Award for Column Writing - 1st Place
- 1999 Pennsylvania Newspaper AssociationPennsylvania Newspaper AssociationThe Pennsylvania Newspaper Association is a trade group serving newspapers in Pennsylvania. The PNA seeks to "advance the interests of Pennsylvania newspapers" and protect the "free and independent press." It represents the newspaper industry in governmental affairs and provides public educational...
Keystone Press Award for Editorial Writing - 1st Place - 1999 American Jewish Press Association Louis Rapaport Award for Commentary - 1st Place
- 1999 American Jewish Press Association Award for Arts Criticism - 1st Place
- 1997 Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism Award for Editorial Writing - 1st Place
- 1997 Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism Award Award for Opinion Column - 1st Place
- 1997 American Jewish Press Association Louis Rapaport Award for Commentary - 1st Place
- 1996 Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism Award for Editorial Writing - 1st Place
- 1996 Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism Award for Opinion Column - 1st Place