Tribute to the services of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and to the role it plays in Jewish life is paid here today in editorials published in the “Haaretz” and “Haboker,” two of the leading Palestine newspapers.
Commenting on the fact that the JTA has reached its twenty-fifth anniversary, the Haaretz, Palestine’s oldest daily newspaper, writes: “Established during the previous world war, the JTA soon played an important role in our press. There is not a single Jewish newspaper the world-over which is not receiving the news of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. This gave the JTA special weight, but also special and great responsibility.”
Declaring that the JTA anniversary “is an achievement which not even critics can disregard,” the Haaretz editorial continues: “An estimation of the JTA work was made easier during the last years by the establishment of a Zionist news service. The competition has naturally compelled the JTA to introduce further improvements in its service, but the great journalistic weakness of the other agency has also served to emphasize the JTA and its promptness of Service which is the soul of journalism, going hand in hand with presenting the facts correctly.”
The editorial concludes by pointing out that despite wartime difficulties, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency is Managing to keep in contact with the Jewish hostages behind the walls of the ghettos in Europe. “Special recognition must be paid to the JTA for its news service from Soviet Russia because this is an importan service not only for the Jewish press but also for the interest of the entire Jewish nation,” the article concludes.
The Haboker, in its editorial, comments in a similar vein, saying that “the JTA has been a faithful companion for the Jewish press” and that it has become “one of the Jewish national assets of first rate importance.”
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.
