ABSTRACT
The subject of the relationships of Jews to journalism is entangled in paradox. Their role in the press has long been an obsession of their enemies, and the vastly disproportionate power that Jews are alleged to wield through the media has been a staple of the anti-Semitic imagination. The most mischievous and important of American Judeophobes was Henry Ford, who was probably the wealthiest citizen of the world's wealthiest country as well. American newspapers have generally developed in the direction of defining themselves in terms of the gathering and dissemination of information, as quickly as possible, under the aegis of impartiality. Complications will continue to bedevil the study of Jews in American journalism. During a historical period when it is hardly a disability, and indeed something of an asset, to be a Jew in America, journalism is among the indices of full participation in the host society.
