_______________WHY "BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL" CAN'T WORK BY SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN (11/23/98)
	Samuel Freedman's Newsreal piece presents a further addition to the considerable literature explaining American Jewish alienation from Zionism and Israel. Once again, we read of the difficulties presented by Israeli legislation written to "placate the Orthodox establishment," and the requisite anecdote about the American immigrant who has moved to a West Bank settlement after "turning Orthodox." Faced with these frequently described images of Israeli society, it is hardly surprising that young American Jews will turn down a free trip to Israel in favor of a vacation in Europe. For some reason, journalists seem to have nothing else to say about Israeli life in the '90s, and nothing good to say about the American Jews, both Orthodox and non-Orthodox, who have made Israel their home. Even if occasional references are made to the recent growth of high-tech companies in the Tel Aviv area, the typical reporter always moves on to an implicitly threatening description of a bearded American immigrant living in a caravan on a West Bank hilltop. Perhaps "Birthright Israel" would not be destined to failure if the American media would pay attention to some of the less exotic aspects of Israeli life. I suppose an article about American Ivy League graduates working as lawyers, doctors and computer professionals in all of Israel's major cities would not be considered newsworthy, nor would a report analyzing the relatively limited impact that Israel's religious legislation actually has on the daily life of most Israelis. I don't claim that everything about life in Israel is rosy, I don't deny that the Orthodox establishment has its problems with the non-Orthodox, and I won't dispute the fact that many (though not all) American immigrants hold right-wing political views. Nevertheless, at least part of the blame for the current unfortunate estrangement between American Jews and Israelis must be attributed to unbalanced media depictions of the realities of Israeli life. -- Penina Goldstein
_______________IT'S ALL ABOUT PARTIES -- AND THE BOTTOM LINE BY JASON ZINOMAN (11/23/98)
	Jason Zinoman's article, "It's all about parties -- and the bottom line," was offensive for all the wrong reasons. As an exposé it only exposed the patent self-absorption and sore luck of the writer. (I don't suppose it struck Mr. Zinoman as more than just slightly ironic that his diatribe was composed from the seat of his job as the book editor at citysearch; I'm guessing the RPC was on his résumé and mentioned in his interview.) As a Radcliffe Publishing Course graduate of 1995, I can confirm the "core" observations of Zinoman's piece: You pay cash and get cachet, check; you swill drinks with the darlings of publishing, yes, many; Morgan Entrekin is a rich kid with smart friends, a lucky streak and a predilection for "da ladies," true. But the real point when it comes to the RPC is that it really works. If you want a job in publishing, spam your résumé and cross your fingers; if you want a career in publishing, go to the Radcliffe Publishing Course and press your suit for the interviews. As Zinoman mentions but fails to grasp, the RPC covers "every aspect of the business," providing a gestalt view that allows graduates to hit the ground running. An RPC graduate has a management mind-set: They know that content is king but understand that Oprah moves the market, that sales is not the enemy, that mind share moves copy, that when the money stops, so does the party -- and the press. In the three years since I graduated, I've moved from an entry-level assistant to a senior management spot with the industry's leading publisher of information about computers, the Internet and digital technologies. The RPC gave me the connections and context to "move out to move up" and to do a good job at every stop along the way. -- Alexander Z. Hughes Group Circulation Manager, C-Net Online SALON | Nov. 30, 1998

R E C E N T L Y+| DR. JEKYLL AND MR. STARR BY GARY KAMIYA

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