Sunday, January 27, 2013

Blame the messenger, Frum papers need to filter ads

The recent advertisement that promised to deliver a shidduch and guarantee to help singles find their soul mate was met with harsh condemnation by leading roshei Yeshiva HERE. However the ad was published in almost all frum media outlets. It was a paid ad in some weekend magazines and newspapers other papers had it as an insert and many posted a press release along with the ad. A major Frum yeshiva  news site emailed it out to all its subscribers as a sponsored email.

How did it get through the censors or the rabbanim that officially go through and proofread the paper. Is it all about the Money? should there be a vaad hakashrus set up to approve the ads? if the rabbanim didn't like the message why do the editors think they can get away with printing it in the first place?

While the frum newspapers do a great service in providing kosher entertainment we can not rely on all the content if the rabbanim will issue a letter the following week condemning the advertisements.
It defenitely was done with good intentions, perhaps the marketing went a bit overboared, we dont know who ran around to the gedolim an alerted them of it collecting signatures etc..but there should be more oversite when it comes to these issues. as for the so called frum torah news sites and bloggs , well its a free for all here and there is no accountability at least the papers have an editor with a name behind it.

10 comments:

  1. I disagree. The papers are allowed an occasional error. I would like to see the papers acknowledge their mistake by publishing this letter.

    The test is scheduled for this week. Stay tuned....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes they are allowed an ocassional error the problem is they never apologize. They assumeit will pass and have no accountability.

      Delete
    2. So, did the papers retract?

      Delete
    3. The Yated did print the letter.

      Delete
  2. News flash - it's all about the $$$$...

    ReplyDelete
  3. לאו עכברא גנב אלא חורא גנב

    ReplyDelete
  4. Why should they self censor? Foolish people will continue to buy these papers and the money will keep coming in. Who wants to forgo the gevaldige oneg shabbos of sprawling out after the seuda and being miayin in geonisdika letters to the editors??

    As for me, it has now been over two years since I have broken free from this obscene waste of the matana of shabbos kodesh. Do I miss it? Not for a second. I even magically now find some time to go through the sedra a little.

    ReplyDelete
  5. As much as I despise these ads and I have beem blogging them for 7 years counting and this is the first (and welcome) ublic condemnation I've seen, I don't think hard arm tactics serve the community at all. The "frummer" the publication the less free the press. One would think that each one of theses increasingly avodah-zarah bordering, black magic, snake oil selling ads would have been met by visceral disgust by the most Jewish educated populus in modern history and yet silence. Let the press and the Rabbonim who are supposedly giving their "daas Torah" to the publications re-educate the public on some basic precepts and tenants of Judaism.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It seems that this particular issue with shidduchim finaly drove home the point. There are many Orgs out there trying to help singles and bring awarness about the age gap and other reasons this advertisemant got in their way which seems to have gotten their ire.

      Delete
    2. The age gap is a theory for which there are no good social science studies to actually back it up. But that would be pretty ironic if one competing issue clashed with another and finally someone took notice of these ads and decided to do something.

      Delete