Retiring one-man show marks end of era, start of new one for city’s Jewish newspaper

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This article was published 26/02/2024 (599 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After 40 years with the Jewish Post & News, Bernie Bellan is calling it quits — sort of.

Bellan, who started his involvement with the publication as business manager before also becoming the reporter, editor and publisher along with managing circulation and advertising in 2008, has gifted the paper to the Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre, which serves seniors in Winnipeg’s Jewish community.

“It was time,” said Bellan, 70, noting he is ready to retire and slow down a bit.

For 26 of his years at the paper, Bellan was also working full-time as a letter carrier for Canada Post, doing editing and publishing work evenings and weekends.

Although he is giving up daily involvement with the Post & News, Bellan intends to stay involved by doing some writing and editing.

“Perhaps to the chagrin of some in the community who might be happy to see me go,” he said.

The weekly Jewish Post was founded in 1925 and had several owners before Bellan, his brother and the then-advertising manager purchased it in 1984. They purchased the rival Western Jewish News three years later and merged the two publications. In 2007, The Jewish Post & News changed to publishing every two weeks.

Bellan said he saw his role at the paper as providing a community service, but at the same time, he didn’t just want it to be just a vehicle to rehash news releases.

“That would just be redundant and boring,” he said. “The Post isn’t an organizational outlet. Organizations have their own newsletters for that. I wanted to support the community, but I also wanted to hold it to account.”

He also wasn’t afraid to take on the controversial subjects or share forthright opinions, such as his recent defence of Free Press columnist Jen Zoratti after she published a column about the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that some in the Jewish community considered “anti-Israel.”

“As an editor myself, I know what it’s like to be accused of bias,” he wrote. “As such, I would argue that the anger at the Winnipeg Free Press for what many in our community perceive as an anti-Israel bias is totally unjustified.”

Despite not holding back when he felt the need to offer contrary perspectives, no advertisers ever threatened to cancel over anything Bellan wrote, he said, adding he could also count the number of subscribers who quit over something he published “on one hand.”

While most media organizations are struggling today, the Post & News, which goes to 1,500 subscribers every two weeks, is profitable, Bellan said. That’s due to support from advertisers, but also to the large number of obituaries and memorials — often between two to four pages in each issue.

“The Post is unique in Canada for doing that,” he said, noting the other two Jewish community newspapers in the country — in Vancouver and Calgary — do not.

Bellan initially hoped to sell the publication, but couldn’t find a buyer. He thought he might have to close it down, but then the Gwen Secter centre expressed interest.

For Becky Chisick, the centre’s executive director, taking over the Post & News was a perfect fit for an organization that serves seniors, since a high percentage of the readership is over 65.

“These are people who like to read a paper in their hands,” she said, adding “it would be a real shame to lose it.”

Chisick knows she can’t replace Bellan.

“I’m not an editor,” she said. To make sure the paper continues to serve the community, she’s also hired a reporter and expects to hire someone to look after operations.

“The feedback has been so positive,” she said of the centre’s decision. “I get so many phone calls thanking me for keeping it going.”

As for Bellan, he sees this new stage in his life as “a long goodbye” as he continues to serve the community as an independent observer. “This is not the ending for the Post,” he said, “but a new beginning.”

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