The publisher of the Israelite Press, which has appeared each week in Winnipeg for the last 53 years with both English-language and Yiddish sections, advised his readers today that he could not assure the future existence of the newspaper unless it became a public corporation with at least 200 shareholders to back it. The paper describes itself as “the only Yiddish English newspaper in Western Canada. “
In a signed statement in the current issue of the paper, N. Witman, its publisher since 1954, noted that the paper had been maintained and operated as a labor of love by the Simkin family. The family sold the paper to him in 1954, he said, but it continued to be printed in a plant owned by the family, at a marked loss during the last five years.
The immediate crisis in the affairs of the paper arose when the family sold the plant to a large printing enterprise. Mr. Witman was informed that the new firm could not continue printing the paper at the old rate and the minimum rates required would be beyond the possibilities of the paper. The publisher said he was unable to find alternative printing facilities and the only possibility that existed was to take over the Yiddish equipment from the old publishers and establish a plant for the paper.
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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.
