The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has rejected, as “completely unsubstantiated,” sweeping charges made against it by Bernard Katzen, consultant on Jewish affairs to the Republican National Committee, Louis P. Rocker, president of the JTA, announced today.
“The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has no axe to grind,” Mr. Rocker told the Republican official. “Its policy since its inception in 1917 has been, and will continue to be, to present the news honestly and impartially to the best of its ability, to seek out and report faithfully and accurately all information on current developments of concern to the Jewish community and to provide the community with the facts on which to base judgments and decisions.”
In a letter to Dr. George S. Wise, chairman of the JTA board, which he released to the press before it was delivered to the JTA, Mr. Katzen complained of the “obviously partisan nature of the reports disseminated by your agency.” He said he was “aware of the duty of news agencies to keep the public alert as to the doings of the government and of men in public life,” adding that “however, when the picture is always one-sided, then it ceases to be faithful reporting and turns into partisan agitation and propaganda.”
Mr. Katzen conceded that he was not submitting a “bill of particulars illustrative of this point, although I assure you of my ability to do so.” He asserted that “any unbiased reader of these reports must be aware of it. Not only are the reports one-sided, but very often distorted with half truths and editorialized with uncalled for interpretations and comments.”
“We feel,” he declared, “that such a partisan attitude is not only incompatible with the principles of a free press and American journalistic traditions, but is also harmful to the interests of the American Jewish community and the related purposes which you claim to serve.
“The fact that the Jewish Telegraphic Agency enjoys the financial support of a number of Jewish national organizations and fund-raising institutions, including many local welfare funds, I believe, places an additional responsibility on this agency, lest its behavior be laid at the door of these organizations,” he asserted.
JTA PRESIDENT SAYS CHARGES ARE ASSAULT ON FREEDOM OF PRESS
Mr. Rocker, in his reply, told Mr. Katzen that “the management of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency has full confidence in the integrity and sincerity of its staff” and in its loyalty to JTA policy and “the principles of a free and honorable journalism.” He declared that “we must flatly reject your sweeping and completely unsubstantiated denunciation.”
He added however, that if “you will submit specific complaints and the supporting evidence, you may be assured that our board of directors will give them proper attention.” Mr. Rocker also communicated the text of the statement he had issued previously to newspapers asking for comment on the Katzen charges. In that statement, he declared:
“Mr. Katzen’s attack on the Jewish Telegraphic Agency is a shocking assault on freedom of the press. As such, it will be resisted to the limit by JTA with, I am confident, the full support of the American Jewish press and community.
“Mr. Katzen’s implied threat that national and local Jewish organizations will be held responsible for the activities of JTA is unprecedented in American political affairs. It will not deter JTA from doing its job to the best of its ability.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
