Claiming credit where credit isn't due.
…The Magen Tzedek (shield of justice) guidelines grew out of the shame many Jews felt about the abuses, first uncovered by this newspaper, of workers and animals at the infamous Iowa slaughterhouse that once was the largest producer of kosher meat and poultry in the nation. And not only the abuses but the unconscionable attempts by some Orthodox leaders to absolve the owners of treating the ritual slaughter of cows and chickens as divorced from basic, humane principles of employment and corporate responsibility.…[emphasis added]
In 2006, the Forward's Nathaniel Popper broke the story of Agriprocessors' abuse of its overwhelmingly illegal workforce. But the Forward did not break the story of animal abuse at Agriprocessors PETA did that along with JewishWorldReview.com (November 29, 2004), the New York Sun (November 29, 2004) and the New York Times. (December 1, 2004). PETA gave its videotape to the Times as an exclusive. But word leaked (at The Agudth Israel of America national convention, no less) and the Sun and JWR beat the Times to its own story, largely because the Times held its piece an extra day, apparently due to some extra fact checking, and JWR and the Sun posted theirs early Monday morning, November 29. Missing from this mix is? The Forward. It's first coverage is on December 3, 2004, and it has a followup piece the following week on December 10. The next mention I can find is a brief mention in a story about another Rubashkin family member dated March 18, 2005. I don't mean this to detract from the Forward's excellent coverage of Agriprocessors. But fair is fair. The Agriprocessors animal cruelty story was broken by the NY Sun, JewishWorldReview.com, and the NY Times.