AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Getting unfettered news about close-knit religious communities can be challenging if journalists are not part of the group. When it comes to ultra-Orthodox Jews, mainstream Jewish news organizations do provide coverage, but ultra-Orthodox media outlets often ignore contentious issues. Now a new website focusing on that religious community offers news with an insider’s perspective. Jon Kalish reports.
JON KALISH, BYLINE: The website Shtetl bills itself as the Haredi Free Press. The term Haredi refers to Jews who follow strict Jewish laws and reject much of modern secular culture. Shtetl takes its name from the Yiddish word for the small Jewish towns in Eastern Europe. The founder and editor-in-chief of Shtetl is a 37-year-old activist-turned-journalist named Naftuli Moster. He says the website will show that just like those…
