Steven Rosenberg, Federation's chief marketing officer, has taken on an added leadership role at the Jewish Exponent.
Steven Rosenberg, who started in December as the chief marketing officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, is now also serving as the publisher's representative and interim general manager of the Jewish Exponent.
Rosenberg assumed that role after David Alpher resigned last month after 15 years as vice president/general manager of the Exponent.
Prior to joining Federation, Rosenberg, 50, served as vice president of marketing and communications at the National Constitution Center. He has spent most of his career working in sports marketing — including with Spectacor, the Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company now owned by Comcast — and with nonprofit organizations.
Rosenberg, a member of Congregation Or Ami, a Reform synagogue in Lafayette Hill, has worked as a volunteer with the JCC Maccabi Games and served on the board of the Kaiserman JCC. He said he “always thought that one day I would work in the Jewish world.”
His said his goal is to increase awareness of the work that Federation does and help boost the visibility and revenue of the Exponent.
“There’s a lot of really great work being done at the Jewish Federation,” said Rosenberg. “But there are a lot people that don’t know of the work that is being done." They don’t know about "the funds that get raised each and every year, where that money goes — to help the indigent, to further Jewish life and learning, to help Israel and Jews in other parts” of the world.
In order to better market the organization, Rosenberg said, “we’ve got to tell our story. We have to tell it in a clear, more simplified, more concise message, and we want to make sure that both our unbelievable amount of volunteers" and "our staff are all saying the same thing, at the same time.”
Of his new role with the Exponent, Rosenberg said he is "really bullish" on the paper, the second-oldest continuously published Jewish paper in the country. He described himself as “a news junkie,” who is “an old-school guy. "I believe in the written word. I like to get newsprint on my fingers; I like that feel. It bums me out that kids today don’t understand that feeling."
Despite his affinity for print, Rosenberg said he sees great promise for the Exponent in the new media landscape.
"The Exponent should be a leader in providing smart digital content with a full multimedia platform for advertisers that include print, online, social media and event touch points," he said. "The Exponent is, in many instances, the only paper people receive in their homes, but there are many users that seek news via digital platforms," particularly on mobile devices.
"Social media in 1987 was two people reading two different sections of the newspaper," he said. "Now, news is old news the minute it comes out. You put a story online, you better be working on your next story" because the last story is old.
The Exponent, he added, "plays a critical role in the Jewish community and it really has to be the voice of the entire Jewish community.”
“What’s so interesting is every" Jewish region "is different,” said Rosenberg. "The Northeast is different than the Main Line, and that’s different than Center City, and that’s different than Chester County. They’re all different. They all have their own identity, their own fabric, their own uniqueness, and the Exponent really has an opportunity to tell those stories.”
He compared the Exponent to publications such as Al Dia, which serves the Latino community, Philadelphia Gay News and Philadelphia Business Journal, in terms of filling a particular niche in media.
Rosenberg lives in Montgomery County, is married to Lori Miller-Rosenberg, an attorney, and has two children and two stepchildren.
