April 24, 2015 ForwardOpinion

As I cross the country to visit synagogues, universities and community centers, I am often approached by someone with a wistful smile and a similar story: I remember when my grandfather would give me a nickel to run down to the corner store and buy the Jewish Forward.

How could I not be moved by these memo-ries? Ive been a journalist for decades, and no other publication I have worked for evokes this deep, warm emotional connection with its readers. In a media landscape where new sites emerge and disappear constantly, I recognize how unusual it is for readers to relate to a single publication as if it were family.

But to be honest, I also get frustrated at this fuzzy evocation of the past. I want to say, Thank you, Im grateful, but please hold on to who we were then, but take a look at what we are now!

As American Jews have evolved in the 118 years since this newspaper was founded, so has their Forward. The proof is in your hands.

The dramatic redesign of our newspaper, followed by the launch of a brand new website, is a bold statement about the Forwards future, reflecting, as our publisher, Samuel Norich, wrote recently, a fundamental shift in our understanding of how the American Jewish story is unfolding and how you our readers, advertisers and donors use and interact with media now.

The new Forward is for those who still love to touch what we read, who delight in the seren-dipity of the turned page, who want to hold on to a special story or photograph for weeks or years. I count myself as one of those read-ers, and I am proud of the solid commitment to print that this redesign represents.

But the new Forward is also for those who experience journalism digitally, who read and post and share, who watch and listen, who access stories from wherever we are. I count myself as one of those readers, too. I remember, as a very young reporter, filing copy on a Tele-type machine, but Im not nostalgic for those days the reach and potential of digital jour-nalism, especially for a niche publication like ours, is thrilling and ennobling.

The new, compact size of our print edition reflects what we think the newspaper of the future should be: a beautifully designed, well-edited and easily navigated showcase for the best of our journalism. We upgraded the paper stock and are using new fonts headlines are set in Prelo Slab and the body type is Neue Swift to improve readability.

Our sections are streamlined into news, opin-ion and culture. Youll notice that the page tabs in the opinion section are in blue, while the tabs in news and culture are in gold.

Ah, the gold, a subject of sustained debate during this redesign process. As much as we respect the traditional blue that anchored the Forward for years and seems to color just about every Jewish organization, we opted for a differ-ent statement. Gold is the emblem of excellence dating back to biblical times. And America was the goldene medina for the founders of the

Forward the golden land of promise, oppor-tunity and acceptance.

Our logo also represents a dramatic new look, with the opening F designed as a gesture to our Yiddish past, and the forward tilt emblematic of an eagerness to embrace the future that is root-ed in our name. (For the font geeks, its set in Glober, in italics.)

There are new features, too. HomeLands, edited by Maia Efrem, will visit a different Jewish household across the country each week for an intimate window into how contemporary Jews live, eat and organize ourselves. The back

page will host a personal essay edited by Anna Goldenberg, providing a narrative insight into the ordinary struggles, surprises and sublime pleasures of being Jewish today.

Between those two features, we will continue to publish the very best in Jewish journalism elegantly written long-form narratives, impactful investigations, hard-hitting editorials, provocative opinion columns, culture criticism that is elevating and incisive, and feature stories that will grab your heart.

This redesign process has been more intense than any of us expected, involving nearly every-one who works here. I want to pay tribute to our publisher, board and association members, who have supported us with the necessary time and resources not a trivial undertaking for a small not-for-profit organization like the Forward.

Although this has been a grand commu-nal effort, I do want to honor two people with special thanks. Kurt Hoffman, the art director, who has worked at the Forward longer than just about anyone, single-handedly redesigned this newspaper with exceptional understanding and elegance.

And Dan Friedman, the managing editor, heroically agreed to be the project manager for this long endeavor, displaying uncommon attention to detail, and patience in balancing a zillion tasks, personalities and ideas.

For me, this redesign process has been much more challenging than a simple cosmetic change. It grew out of a microscopic, sometimes uncomfortable, dissection of the Forwards weaknesses and its strengths, leading to a distil-lation of our character and mission.

In the end, we realized that what motivates us, what sets us apart from our competitors, what has driven this news organization from the 19th century into the 21st, what will keep us relevant for new generations of Jews, is our inquisitive soul. As journalists and as Jews, we are inquisitive by nature probing, skeptical, independent, unafraid, devoted to our commu-nitys core values, and eager to engage with each other and the complicated, amazing world around us. We ask questions.

We ask why.

Letter From the Editor

The new Forward is for those who still love to touch what we read, who delight in the serendipity of the turned page.

PHIL STERN

A Forward for the Inquisitive Reader