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Post Coverage of Slain Hasidic Man Tasteless, Shameful

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The controversial New York Post cover
The controversial New York Post cover
As news of the abduction and subsequent grisly murder of Menachem Stark hit the New York City papers, the coverage of the tragedy took two sharply differently turns. Much of the coverage found Stark to be a respected businessman and a stand-up member of his Hasidic community.

Other papers, specifically the New York Daily News and the New York Post, chose to favor coverage that portrayed Stark as a slumlord with shady business dealings. On Saturday, January 4, 2016, as news of the abduction made the rounds, and before most individuals had even learned that Stark’s body had been discovered burned in a Long Island trash bin, the News coverage opted to show Yelp reviews of his business. The reviews were overwhelmingly negative.

One Yelp reviewer even posted that Stark embodied “every terrible stereotype and characterization you can possibly imagine when the phrase ‘New York City slumlords’ enters your head.”

That was the beginning of a series of tasteless news coverage tactics that culminated on Monday with the New York Post headline that read “Who Didn’t Want Him Dead?”

The story went on to cite law enforcement officials as looking into Stark’s real estate dealings, specifically his unsuccessful business ventures, bankruptcy filings and legal proceedings, to select from a pool of suspects. And while it may be reasonable to scour through the victim’s past to look for suspects and motive, it does not seem necessary to either lock the victim of the crime into the anti-semitic stereotype of a Jewish slumlord or to take on a mentality that blames the victim for what misfortune befell him.

Nor do Stark’s business practices in any way justify murder of any kind as a business solution, or as a reasonable defense to murder. Violent crime is not justified. Period. For any human being whether we agree with that person’s content of character or moral compass or not.

But the Post persisted, with the article citing a law enforcement official as saying: “Any number of people wanted to kill this guy.”

Another entry in the Post article stated: “He’s a Hasidic Jew from Williamsburg, and we think he’s a scammer,” another investigator said of Stark, who had defaulted on more than $30 million in real-estate loans in recent years and owed tens of thousands in penalties for building violations.”

The Post coverage was immediately followed by numerous public statements from area politicians condemning the coverage. A press conference was held on Sunday where newly-elected Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Councilman Mark Treyger, Councilman David Greenfield, and newly-elected Public Advocate Tish James joined in demanding that the newspaper apologize.

“[W]e are disgusted, outraged and appalled that the New York Post would celebrate on their front page the murder of an innocent New Yorker,” Greenfield said. James even suggested the city boycott the Post by refusing to place public notices in the paper until it apologizes.

Naturally, a Post apology was not forthcoming, but a clarification statement was issued so that the Post could cover its bases. The statement alleged that its published remarks were of valid journalistic integrity, insisting that it is reasonable to look at his past in order to gather suspects. It further stated that it was merely quoting a detective at the scene when it posted its sensational headline that read as if the death of Stark was justifiable.

A subsequent story was run by the Post covering the press conference of condemnation, and the article included a statement from the paper’s spokesperson, which read: “The Post does not say Mr. Stark deserved to die, but our reporting showed that he had many enemies, which may have led to the commission of this terrible crime,” the spokesperson said, adding, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time of loss.”

Others spoke out against the Post coverage, including Agudeth Israel, which said : “The paper demonstrated the poorest taste by choosing to focus on anonymous accusations rather than on the human tragedy of a wife and family’s sudden and terrible loss, and on their, and their community’s, grieving. Particularly at a time when Jews have been attacked on New York streets and are regularly vilified by hateful people around the world, the tabloid has demonstrated unprecedented callousness and irresponsibility.”

The National Council of Young Israel also spoke out, releasing a statement that said:

“The National Council of Young Israel condemns The New York Post in the strongest terms possible for its incomprehensible decision to publish an offensive and despicable headline in conjunction with the brutal murder of Menachem Stark.

As a grieving family struggled to come to grips with the sudden and tragic loss of a loved one, The New York Post displayed a callous indifference to any semblance of human decency when they printed such a shocking and sickening cover targeting the deceased.”

And now the Jewish Voice takes a turn at excoriating the baseless, sensationalized and tawdry angle of coverage opted for by the editors of the New York Post. While one must look into Stark’s life and the pool of possible suspects, it can be done so in a way that is respectful to the family of the victim and that does not imply violent crime is justified in any way. Or as if murder is a viable solution used to resolvedifferences.

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