About that email http://blogs.jta.org/ENTRY_PERMALINK_HERE/about-that-email/ I will be the first to admit that Friday’s fundraising letter was ill-advised and regrettable.  The characterization of bloggers and Twitterers as “non-professional” and unreliable was not only counterproductive but arguably false.  en-us dsieradski@jta.org Copyright 2009 2009-04-05T;17:14:01-05:00 Comment by Jewlicious jewlicious@gmail.com Benefits? You get to help save the JTA!! Isn’t that enough? Benefits? You get to help save the JTA!! Isn’t that enough?

]]> 2009-11-19T;22:58:01-05:00 Comment by IsraDan jphilanthropy@yahoo.com Dan, I appreciate your response to what has been said over the past few days on the blog-o-sphere. But, I am also quite disappointed that it came from you (regardless of your position in the JTA). The feelings that Elisa’s solicitation email brought forth deserve a formal response from her, as both the author of the email and President of JTA. On a related note, and lost in all the various comments is that the solicitation email asks us “to join JTA by becoming a member of our online community. For just $50...” Membership implies certain benefits not available to non-members. What exactly are the benefits of JTA membership? Dan,

I appreciate your response to what has been said over the past few days on the blog-o-sphere. But, I am also quite disappointed that it came from you (regardless of your position in the JTA). The feelings that Elisa’s solicitation email brought forth deserve a formal response from her, as both the author of the email and President of JTA.

On a related note, and lost in all the various comments is that the solicitation email asks us “to join JTA by becoming a member of our online community. For just $50...”

Membership implies certain benefits not available to non-members. What exactly are the benefits of JTA membership?

]]> 2009-11-19T;22:58:01-05:00 Comment by Jewlicious jewlicious@gmail.com Golly. I think most of the bloggers you cited offered reasoned responses to the JTA’s poorly thought out fundraising pitch - a couple of us, myself included, even provided readers with a link to the JTA’s membership solicitation page. I would hardly call the bulk of these responses “hyperventilation.” In fact, they were better thought out than the the JTA’s original pitch letter. I don’t think anyone suggested that traditional media ought to be replaced by blog posts and tweets! The first part of your post was fine - the fundraising letter was indeed ill-advised and regrettable. The second part responded to an argument that no one was making. I don’t think any of us wants the JTA to fold! Also, not all of us are aspiring journalists looking, “pleading” for writing gigs. Some of us do what we do because we are passionate about the state of the Jewish people and blogs allow us to have a say in its direction - blogs give us a voice in an arena where we never had one before. I mean seriously, if you ever see my name under an article about some dude’s restaurant’s Passover menu, please shoot me. I don’t have any problem with those that choose to write that sort of stuff for a living, it’s just not for me. In any case, I wish the JTA the best of luck in its fundraising campaign. The JTA is undoubtedly a very important Jewish community organization that ought to be supported, but please, not at my expense ok? Golly. I think most of the bloggers you cited offered reasoned responses to the JTA’s poorly thought out fundraising pitch - a couple of us, myself included, even provided readers with a link to the JTA’s membership solicitation page. I would hardly call the bulk of these responses “hyperventilation.” In fact, they were better thought out than the the JTA’s original pitch letter. I don’t think anyone suggested that traditional media ought to be replaced by blog posts and tweets!

The first part of your post was fine - the fundraising letter was indeed ill-advised and regrettable. The second part responded to an argument that no one was making. I don’t think any of us wants the JTA to fold! Also, not all of us are aspiring journalists looking, “pleading” for writing gigs. Some of us do what we do because we are passionate about the state of the Jewish people and blogs allow us to have a say in its direction - blogs give us a voice in an arena where we never had one before. I mean seriously, if you ever see my name under an article about some dude’s restaurant’s Passover menu, please shoot me. I don’t have any problem with those that choose to write that sort of stuff for a living, it’s just not for me.

In any case, I wish the JTA the best of luck in its fundraising campaign. The JTA is undoubtedly a very important Jewish community organization that ought to be supported, but please, not at my expense ok?

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