PURIM NEWS: Jewish millennials show little interest in media domination

Rupert Murdoch is old and not Jewish.

Jewish community leaders are concerned that young professionals of the millennial generation are not as committed to maintaining their grip on the worldwide media as the generations before them.

“Jewish youth are much too focused on their careers, relationships, and promoting social justice issues, and simply don’t make media control a priority,” said Deborah Livshitz, founder of Jewish Media Group.

Livshitz explained that Jewish media control peaked in 1996 when 90 per cent of media outlets were run by power hungry machers, but the rate has been on a downward spiral ever since.

“These days, the number is at, like, 72 per cent, at best.”

According to a UIA report that polled nearly 1,500 Canadian Jews between the ages of 20 and 40, only 32 per cent of Jews felt that promoting the narrative of the Zionist entity and Jewish Lobby was “of great importance.”

However, Livshitz said she was encouraged that 87 per cent of those surveyed agreed that Jewish control over the banks and Hollywood is essential to Jewish continuity.

The decline in Jewish influence of the media can be evidenced by BBC’s decision in January to ask a panel if it is time to “lay the Holocaust to rest,” during a debate segment called The Big Questions.

“In my time, the Jews would never have let that happen,” said Moshe Dickstein, a concerned parent to two “good, Jewish boys” in their 20s.

“My father, and my father’s father understood the importance of Jewish media control, and those lessons were passed down to me. If my children don’t learn the skills necessary to influence the public perception via the media, who will continue to make the goyim feel guilty about the Holocaust myth? Did I say, myth? I meant Holocaust exaggeration.”

Today, CBS is owned by Sumner Murray Rothstein, a rich Jew. NBC is owned by Brian Roberts, another rich Jew.

CNN, along with Time and People magazines, which are under the umbrella of Time-Warner, is partially owned by a very rich Israeli named Aviv Nevo.

“Don’t get me wrong, Jews still hold most of the positions of power in the media. They’re just not a die-hard Zionist-y as I’d like them to be,” Livshitz said.

“I mean, we still have Rupert Murdoch – the CEO of  FOX and owner of the New York Post – on our side, but he’s not even a Jew! So, I don’t know anymore.”

Rabbi Courtney Fleishman, “the Reform rabbi to the stars,” said the fact that young Jews aren’t as interested in world domination as their parents were is a worrisome trend.

“I believe that we are now at one of those critical, pivotal moments in our history. It’s sneaking up on us. What is happening is an upheaval that threatens our cohesive fabric,” she said.

Dickstein’s 28-year-old son, Howard, said although it’s a nice idea to have the next generation of Jews as invested in media control as the generations that have passed, Jewish youth have bigger problems.

“At this point I’m just trying to figure out how to afford a $600,000 mortgage, working 60 hours a week for a $37,000 salary, and still find time to binge watch Game of Thrones,” he said.

“Millennials, who in time will come to be the leaders of the Jewish community, do not at present buy into the importance of running the media and Hollywood as their parents did. I don’t know about you, but I have not had my fill of Holocaust movies,” Rabbi Fleishman said.

She said the best shot at capturing the imagination of the next generation is to acknowledge them as individuals and approach them one by one.

“Make them understand the value of world domination and how it will benefit them and their children.”