American Jewish newspaper halts publication after 121 years

The Forward, one of the longest-running Jewish publications in the United States, is to shut down its print edition and lay off its editor-in-chief and 40 percent of staff.

The New York Post reported on Thursday that the Forward would be ending its print run, more than 120 years after it began publication in 1897.

It will continue to exist online in English and Yiddish. A laid-off staff member posted the Post article on Facebook without comment.

The Forward’s editor-in-chief, Jane Eisner, will be laid off after more than a decade in the position, in addition to Executive Editor Dan Friedman, Art Director Kurt Hoffman, Dave Goldiner, the director of digital media, and Kathleen Chambard, the vice president of marketing, according to the Post.

“The Forward is taking the next step in making our brand more relevant to our readers and more connected to their lives,” Publisher and CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen said, according to the Post. “We are announcing that this spring The Forward will complete its evolution from what was once a print-focused publisher to become a digitally focused publication.”

The New York City-based publication began as a Yiddish-language newspaper and launched a weekly English-language print edition in 1990.