PRESS RELEASE: Multi-Racial Jewish Reporter Wins 2013 Be’chol Lashon Media Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Robin Washington
V. 415.386.2604
info@globaljews.org
www.globaljews.org

San Francisco, April 22, 2013—Born into a family with German-Jewish and Jamaican roots, Simone Weichselbaum was selected for her piercing, respectful, accurate and often entertaining reporting of the multicultural borough, in particular its Orthodox Jews and Jews of color.

“Anyone who saw the movie A Stranger Among Us recognizes the difficulties that those in various professions may encounter when attempting to interact with the often-insular Orthodox enclaves of Brooklyn,” said awards chairman Robin Washington, editor of Minnesota’s Duluth News Tribune.

“As a multi-racial Jew, Simone exemplifies the contemporary Jewish community she writes about,” added Diane Tobin, founder and director of Be’chol Lashon, “Jewish life is increasingly diverse, reflecting the growing racial, ethnic, cultural and gender diversity within American society.”

Weichselbaum joined the Daily News in 2008 after spending five years as a crime reporter at the Philadelphia Daily News. She attended a Modern Orthodox yeshiva in Manhattan and went on to public high school and American University, graduating with a B.A. in history, and the University of Pennsylvania, earning a master’s in criminology. By 21, she had written for the Associated Press in London, the Village Voice, Newsday and the Washington Post.

Weichselbaum will be presented with the award, along with a prize of $1,000, at the Be’chol Lashon International Think Tank in San Francisco on Saturday, May 4, 2013.

First awarded in 2008, the Be’chol Lashon Media Awards were established to recognize outstanding journalism depicting the rich diversity of Judaism and the important place diverse Jews have among the Jewish people.

Be’chol Lashon (In Every Tongue) advocates for a global understanding of the Jewish people that reflects contemporary identity.

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