Canadian Jewish News names new editor

TORONTO (JTA) — The Canadian Jewish News named a former columnist as its new editor following a five-month search and after reversing its decision to shut down.

Yoni Goldstein, 33, was named to the post Tuesday and will take over on Jan. 6.

The Toronto native told the paper he will lead that he would like Canada’s flagship Jewish newspaper to be “an honest broker for the Jewish community” that will attract a younger readership.

Honesty “is attractive to younger readers. … They start to question publications when they feel like they’re not getting the whole story,” Goldstein said.

His vision includes “a modernized magazine-style newspaper that focuses on issues and ideas with a larger online component with much more daily content available.”

Along with his column for the Canadian Jewish News, Goldstein has appeared in the Jerusalem Report, Maclean’s magazine, the National Post, Huffington Post, the Globe and Mail, The Wall Street Journal and Haaretz.

In April, The Canadian Jewish News announced it was folding after 53 years, citing revenue shortfalls and the digital age. It hinted that an online version
might continue.

Following an outcry in the Jewish community, the paper brought in an efficiency expert and, after staff cuts and a reshuffling of its business model, announced it would continue publishing.

The newspaper, which claims a circulation of about 35,000 mainly in Toronto and Montreal, also has a new president. Elizabeth Wolfe was installed last week.

Wolfe is the daughter of the late Ray Wolfe, who in 1971 was part of the group that bought the newspaper from founder Meyer Nurenberger and converted it into a nonprofit publication.