https://jewishaction.com/religion/jewish-law/discussing-journalism-jewish-law-rabbi-j-david-bleich/
The Chofetz Chaim was on the mark. If you are speaking of people who have no need for the news then reading newspapers is a waste of time. But, if you are talking about people who are communal leaders in one sense or another, the relevant source is the Ralbag’s commentary on Megillas Esther. The Ralbag authored two commentaries on Tanach. They are merged into one but are clearly demarcated. One is his commentary on the text, which is often philosophical in nature, the other is what he calls the “to’iliyos,” the “benefits” or moral lessons, that can be derived. In his work on Megillas Esther Ralbag enumerates fifty-one to’iliyos. Commenting on the phrase “U’Mordechai yoshev besha’ar hamelech,” “Mordechai sits at the gate of the king,” Ralbag notes that Mordechai spent time in the corridors of the court to inform himself of the goings-on within the palace. The to’eles that one is supposed to derive from this narrative is that a leader or manhig—Mordechai was a member of the Sanhedrin—must be aware of matters of state. What transpires in the halls of government does affect us. Clearly, Jews have to be informed, or at least some Jews must be informed. Perhaps in this day and age a majority of Jews have a need to be informed.
The establishment of an Orthodox press in Europe was an attempt to produce what I would call a “name, rank and serial number” type of news reporting. It was necessary to present people with the bare-bone facts and, although I have not read the European press to any real extent, I am quite sure that there were editorial comments of one kind or another that also entered into excurses with regard to how events reported in the news columns would impact upon the Jewish community and how the community should react. That is what the Ralbag meant when he identified the benefit that can be derived from “news.” I am quite certain that one need not read a newspaper cover to cover, but I do believe that a person who is in the position of an opinion molder has to be aware of current events. Students and congregants require guidance. We do not live in an insular enclave.
It occurred to me not long ago that a close comparison may be drawn between the prohibitions against lashon hara and American constitutional jurisprudence regarding commercial speech. The First Amendment was never regarded as providing absolute protection to commercial speech. It was never regarded as allowing someone to advertise snake oil as a panacea for cancer. The government can restrict such speech; the government can criminalize it; the government can penalize a person who engages in such speech. However, in a seminal case, Central Hudson Gas & Electric, the Supreme Court established the parameters of the restrictions that may be imposed on commercial speech. The Court did not wave a judicial wand and proclaim that when the First Amendment says Congress shall make no law with regard to the abridgment of freedom of speech, it does not mean commercial speech, because commercial speech is not “speech” and therefore Congress can impose any restriction it wishes. Instead the Supreme Court said that commercial speech is “speech” and is included in the First Amendment. However, because commercial speech is a special category of speech, the freedom of commercial speech is limited; it is not absolute.
Rav Bleich often mentions that he reads a newspaper, and that information about the world is available from it.
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