Seth Lipsky

Lipsky in 2008

Seth Lipsky (born 1946) is the founder and editor of the New York Sun, an independent conservative daily in New York City that ceased its print edition on September 30, 2008. Lipsky counts Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill, Ariel Sharon, and Milton Friedman among his intellectual and ideological heroes.[1] He has a long history of working in the newspaper business, including "a nearly 20-year-long career" at the Wall Street Journal[2] that included Asia and Belgium.

Lipsky also founded and was editor[3] of The Forward, an English-language successor to a Yiddish-language longtime newspaper of the same name.[4]

He has also written several invited articles and guest opinions for The New York Times, and is the author of six books.[5][6]

Early life and education

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Born 1946 in Brooklyn, from age one[5] Lipsky was "raised in a secular Jewish family in Great Barrington, Mass"[2] and graduated from Harvard University.[7] in 1968.

The Jewish Daily Forward

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Main article: The Jewish Daily Forward

In 1990, Lipsky started an English-language weekly version of The Jewish Daily Forward (The Forward), which was previously a widely read Yiddish-language daily newspaper.[8][9] Lipsky resigned in 2000 after a clash with the owners of The Forward, who threatened to shut down the English-language publication unless Lipsky was fired. The dispute was over Lipsky's editorials supporting Ronald Reagan and the war in Vietnam.[9]

The New York Sun

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Main article: The New York Sun

In 2002 he founded and began serving as editor[8] of The New York Sun. Although the paper only lasted six years, and gave away more copies than it sold,[10] a spokesperson at the United Nations admitted, after a criticism by The Sun, that the paper "does punch way above its circulation number, on occasion."[11] Lipsky's problems were compounded in that he began and operated at a time when the newspaper industry's situation was described as "pretty grim."[12]

Among its noteworthy "social life" features were the paper's Along the Wine Trail wine column [13] and crossword puzzle.[14]

In 1991, Lipsky was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for his Forward editorials "on a variety of national issues, including some of specific interest to the American Jewish community."[15]

Shutting down the print edition

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When it was time to give his 110 full-time employees the bad news, he made it "'in an orderly way' .. not filing for bankruptcy .. pay employees through November .. health insurance .. through Dec. 31."[8] When asked why the shutdown, Lipsky said "we needed additional funds ... the 2008 financial collapse was sweeping the world, and the Internet was emerging as a challenge to traditional newspapering."[5][16]

Selected works

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Teaching

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A 2011 interview's overview listed second "teaching at Columbia University's School of Journalism."[5][21]

Personal

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Lipsky served in the U.S. Armed Forces and wrote for Stars and Stripes while in Vietnam. He is married to Amity Shlaes, a columnist and author.[22]

References

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  1. ^ The Wall Street Journal Online - Dispatch
  2. ^ a b "Seth Lipsky Looks Forward: New bio takes on Abraham Cahan, 'the first neoconservative'". The Observer. October 16, 2013.
  3. ^ Yoel Cohen (2012). God, Jews and the Media: Religion and Israel's Media. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-47503-7. The Forward .. Yiddish Forverts, Seth Lipsky, its founding editor, was an unlikely candidate for the venture.
  4. ^ Der Forverts
  5. ^ a b c d Ellilot Resnick (February 11, 2011). "Veteran Newspaperman Seth Lipsky Reminisces On His Career". The Jewish Press. p. 10.
  6. ^ 2011 Interview had "five books" - this was before his 2015 The Floating Kilogram
  7. ^ Seth Lipsky exclusive, December 17, 2012
  8. ^ a b c James Barron (September 30, 2008). "Losing Money, New York Sun Is to Shut Down". The New York Times.
  9. ^ a b Finkelstein, Katherine E. (April 14, 2000). "Metro Business: Newspaper Founder Resigns Under Fire". The New York Times.
  10. ^ James Barron (September 21, 2008). "After 6 Years, N.Y. Sun Finds Itself at a Crossroads". The New York Times.
  11. ^ Scott Sherman (April 30, 2007). "Sun-rise in New York". The Nation.
  12. ^ Larry McShane (April 14, 2002). "New York Sun will shine again". The Bryan Times. Associated Press. p. 3.
  13. ^ Frank J. Prial, Decantations: Reflections on Wine by the New York Times Wine Critic, St. Martin's Griffin, 2002, p. 16
  14. ^ Gaffney, Matt (July 12, 2006). "Who writes better crossword puzzles, humans or computers?". Slate Magazine. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  15. ^ "The 1991 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Editorial Writing: Seth Lipsky of Forward, a New York City weekly". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  16. ^ "The Seven-Year Run of the New York 'Sun'". New York magazine. January 31, 2008. Seth Lipsky chose a bad month to find new backers ... The Web 2.0 ethos was taking hold in the newspaper world
  17. ^ Seth Lipsky (2009). The Citizens Constitution: An Annotated Guide. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465-01858-1.
  18. ^ Seth Lipsky (2013). The Rise of Abraham Cahan. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. ISBN 978-0805-24210-2.
  19. ^ Seth Lipsky (2015). The Floating Kilogram. New York Sun Books. ISBN 978-0996-12320-4.
  20. ^ "The Gold Standard Goes Mainstream". The Wall Street Journal. August 29, 2012.
  21. ^ "Downie-Schudson report on journalism, 2009". In the Wall Street Journal, another Columbia professor, Seth Lipsky, opposes ...
  22. ^ "Amity Shlaes Married to Seth Lipsky". The New York Times. June 13, 1988.
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