The lengthy Aug. 31 Jewish Week article by Elli Wohlgelernter(disclosure: Wohlgelernter is a former colleague and personal friend) concerns the recently completed inaugural season of the Israel Baseball League. It details a number of problems that occurred, including a potentially dangerous incident when a player was struck by a ball, a manager’s mid-season departure, sub-standard playing and living conditions for the athletes, and lack of success in marketing the league to Hebrew-speaking Israelis. It also points out how English-speaking "Anglo-Israelis" embraced the project, and how most players enjoyed their experience, despite "bush league" conditions.
The way this story wound itself around the Web, and ruffled feathers of editors, is even more interesting. Wohlgelernter sold the story to four U.S. Jewish newspapers, including the LA Jewish Journal and NY Jewish Week. He worked a "local angle" into as many slightly differing versions as possible, by quoting Jewish and non-Jewish players from the newspapers’ home towns. He was clear up front, and told each paper they would not get an "exclusive." He also gave the story to the blog Tabloid Baby, because of his longstanding relationship with the blog’s creator, Burt Kearns (one of the founding producers of the tabloid television business in the 1980s).
I email Rob Eshman, editor of the Jewish Journal, for his comment. He responds:
Just that a) I’m not the editor of the New Jersey Jewish News and b) Brad is indeed our staff writer. (And Poynter is a journalism web site, ouch).
I liked Elli’s story a lot, and we received a lot of feedback and letters about it. I wish the embargo and pre-pub agreement had been honored is all.
