Jewish Rhody Media: The future is here

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Do you remember The Herald? Or perhaps you remember the Jewish Voice, or the Community Voice from many years ago.

At one time, The Rhode Island Jewish Herald was an independently published newspaper and The Jewish Voice was published by the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island – yes, little Rhody’s Jewish community had two Jewish papers for many years, an amazing feat for a small state.

In the early 2000s, the newspapers merged, and so did the name. But old habits are hard to break, so some of you still call it The Jewish Voice, or The Jewish Voice & Herald, or just plain The Herald. We answer to all those cherished names.

Whatever name you remember or use for our community paper, one thing is certain: It’s the same Jewish publication that has always covered the Ocean State. We still record and share the news, transitions, happenings, controversies and lives of our community.

But like everything else, the paper has evolved. Our name is not the only thing that has changed.

When we went to a monthly format, in January 2019, we promised more features and more about the people in our community whom you might not otherwise get to know. We vowed to continue to cover Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. We upgraded and expanded our website, www.jewishrhody.org, and established a monthly online newsletter.

For the most part, we’ve been successful. Many of you have told us that you love the new content.

There is so much more we hope to do. And toward that end, we’re excited to continue our evolution by placing a new emphasis on a future steeped in multimedia: We are expanding and developing new channels for delivering news and information to our community.

We are calling our new venture Jewish Rhody Media. It will encompass everything you see now and much more. Our print newspaper, expanded website and monthly online newsletter are staying, and we now have additional video content.

Did you catch the Baking with Lisa video? Lisa Maybruch demonstrated, step by step, how to make your own delicious black and white cookies.

A second "Baking with Lisa" is already in the works, featuring Lisa preparing rugelach. (I didn’t get to taste the black and whites, but I’m hoping to grab some rugelach when she bakes for our second video!)

This month, we have another video, for our Up Front feature. Read all about Liza Burkin, lead organizer of the Providence Streets Coalition. Then, go to the link to watch multimedia producer Robert Isenberg and Burkin take to the streets of Providence on a bicycle tour. You might even be inspired to get out and find the places they highlight!

In the next few months, you’ll also start hearing about additional new content: podcasts featuring people in the community discussing a variety of subjects. We have some interesting topics in store.

Emma Newbery will produce the podcasts from the Residential Properties Ltd studio at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center. Isenberg and Newbery are part of the team that will bring you this enhanced content for Jewish Rhody Media.

Isenberg is an accomplished storyteller with newspaper, magazine, book and video credits to his name. Newbery’s background is in journalism and she has an established arts podcast. You’ll have opportunities to learn more about the communications team in the coming months as they work behind the scenes to produce the stories, videos and podcasts we know you will love.

By expanding how we deliver news and other information, we’re hoping to document and enlighten Jewish life in Rhode Island in new ways that will attract more readers and further enrich our coverage for those of you who can still remember reading The Herald.

Yes, we will still answer when you call us The Herald. Those basic values are part of our DNA. We may not have the same staff, look, presses or location, but we embrace our history and will continue to honor it as we look forward to new adventures to come.

Working together, Jewish Rhode Island’s communications team will bring you even more news and feature stories from our community. All the multimedia content can be accessed through our website.

We hope you will keep reading and that you will also enjoy viewing and listening. And when you hear about something interesting in the community, don’t hesitate to reach out. We plan to continue to tell the stories of our community, only now in even more and different ways.

Fran Ostendorf, Editor

Jewish Rhody, Jewish Rhody Media, Jewish Rhode Island, The Voice, the Herald