Jewish Telegraphic Agency

International Jewish news agency founded by Jacob Landau in The Hague in 1917, based in New York since the early 1920s; non-profit, federation- and foundation-funded, and since 2015 part of 70 Faces Media; a frequent source on Chabad-Lubavitch

Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
Type	Non-profit news agency (wire service); a brand of 70 Faces Media Inc. since 2015
Founded	February 1917, The Hague, as the Jewish Correspondence Bureau (Joodsch Correspondentie Bureau)
Founder(s)	Jacob Landau
Headquarters	New York (from 1921, according to JTA)
Services	News wire, website and archive covering Jewish communities worldwide
Key people	Ami Eden (CEO and executive editor of 70 Faces Media, as reported in 2015)
Remarks	Parent: 70 Faces Media Inc., EIN 13-0887610; tax year 2023 revenue $7,947,717 (ProPublica)

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency covering Jewish communities and Jewish affairs. It was founded in The Hague in 1917 by the journalist Jacob Landau as the Jewish Correspondence Bureau, re-established in London after the First World War and moved to New York in the early 1920s. It became a non-profit and has been funded largely by Jewish federations and foundations: by the Council of Jewish Federations in the 1950s, under an agreement with the Jewish Agency from 1960, and since 2015 through its parent, 70 Faces Media. YIVO describes it as an agency "servicing the Jewish and non-Jewish press of various countries". It is a frequent source for reporting on the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

History

According to JTA's own history page, "In the waning days of World War I, a 25-year-old journalist named Jacob Landau founded the Jewish Correspondence Bureau to inform Jewish communities around the world about the fate of the Jews wherever they lived." "What began as a volunteer effort in The Hague later transformed into the Jewish Telegraphic Agency." Its first Daily News Bulletin appeared on 15 February 1917. A 1977 JTA anniversary item gives the founding date as 6 February 1917. It names Landau's helpers as Jacques Buchenholtz, Sylvain Birnbaum, Sylvain Russ and Elias Chanania, and says that "The purpose was to prepare world public opinion for an intelligent handling of the Jewish problem at the Versailles Peace Conference". "After World War I the Agency was re-established in London in 1920. The head-quarters of the JTA were established in New York in 1921." JTA's 1952 obituary of Landau says that he re-established the agency in London "in association with Meir Grossman", with offices in Paris, Warsaw, Berlin and New York.

JTA's history page says that it launched The Palestine Daily Bulletin, which "later evolved into the Jerusalem Post". The agency "was reincorporated in 1936 to give formal status to its communal, non-profit character as an instrument of the Jewish people". Its archive, which JTA says holds "more than 250,000 articles dating to 1923", is searchable online.

Editor's note: The YIVO Institute's archival description of JTA's records gives different dates. It has the agency "Originally established in 1914 as the Jewish Correspondence Bureau by Jacob Landau in The Hague", re-established in London in 1919 by Landau and Meir Grossman, and its headquarters moved to New York in 1922. YIVO also records that Boris Smolar was managing editor from 1924 to 1968. JTA's own accounts give 1917, 1920 and 1921, and those are used here.

Ownership and funding

JTA's history page states: "From 1949 through 1960, JTA was supported in large part by operating support from the Council of Jewish Federations. Following an agreement with the Jewish Agency in 1960, JTA transitioned to a non-profit news agency by transferring ownership to a non-profit foundation in 1963."

In January 2015 JTA merged with MyJewishLearning to form 70 Faces Media. Its CEO and executive editor, Ami Eden, said the new company "remains committed to providing readers with news, information, content and discussion on Jewish topics without political bias or denominational bent". The announcement named the lead funders as "the Samuel Bronfman Foundation and the National Federation/Agency Alliance — a network of 30 local Jewish federations working in conjunction with the Jewish Federations of North America". Other lead funders included UJA-Federation of New York and several family foundations. "In total, the new organization and its main brands are supported by about 25 foundations, 45 Jewish federations and 2,000 individual donors."

The parent company, 70 Faces Media Inc. of New York (EIN 13-0887610), is a US tax-exempt organisation. Its filing for tax year 2023 reports total revenue of $7,947,717, of which $5,429,397 was contributions and grants.

Editorial line

JTA's founding statement of 1917, which it still quotes, reads: "The Jewish Daily Bulletin will be independent. It will not propagate any particular philosophy or theory or tendency. It will limit itself to the presentation of facts, leaving to its readers the forming of their opinion." In 2015 70 Faces Media restated the aim as reporting "without political bias or denominational bent". The agency has always depended on the organised Jewish community, through the Council of Jewish Federations, the Jewish Agency and, since 2015, a federation alliance and Jewish foundations. Its statements of independence should be read with that funding in mind.

Editor's note: No independent study of JTA's editorial independence or of its coverage of particular movements was found for this page. The point about funding is an observation from JTA's own published history, not a finding by a critic.

Coverage of Chabad

JTA is not a Chabad body, but it has reported on the Chabad-Lubavitch movement for decades. Its stories are a main source for this project. They include reports that are critical of Chabad figures, and reports that rely heavily on Chabad spokespeople. Examples include:

• Crown Heights, 1991. Its contemporary report "Fatal Brooklyn Traffic Accident Sparks Widespread Racial Violence" (22 August 1991). Twenty years later it covered Al Sharpton's admission of "mistakes" (22 August 2011). See Crown Heights riot.
• Public menorahs and eruvs. "Menorah Lighting in Public: a Divisive Constitutional Issue" (8 December 1988). "Orthodox Jews in North London Lose 5-year Battle for an Eruv" (26 February 1993). See Public menorahs and Eruv.
• Kapparot. Reports on the court cases over the chicken ritual, in Los Angeles (17 May 2017) and New York (7 June 2017). See Kapparot.
• Ukraine. "In Ukraine, dueling chief rabbis" (24 October 2005). It reported that critics of Moshe Reuven Azman's election as chief rabbi, "who include most of the country's rabbis and dozens of secular activists", saw it as a way to increase the influence of the media magnate Vadim Rabinovich over President Viktor Yushchenko. Later reports included one on Azman's endorsement of the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot (6 January 2021) and one on Volodymyr Zelensky's first meeting with Chabad rabbis (15 September 2023). See Chabad and Ukraine.

Editor's note: This list is drawn from JTA items already used in this project's research. It is not a systematic survey of JTA's Chabad coverage.

See also

• Chabad-Lubavitch movement
• Chabad and Ukraine
• Crown Heights riot
• Jewish Agency for Israel
• Jewish Federations of North America