Better Left Unsaid: Sexual Offenses and the Haredim

Abstract

The article examines when and how ultra-Orthodox news media reports on sexual scandals involving public figures within and outside the community, focusing on three recent cases involving Donald Trump, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, and Chaim Walder. Through a comparative analysis of the reporting (or non-reporting) of these scandals in leading ultra-Orthodox dailies (Hamodia, Yated Ne’eman, Hapeles, and Hamevaser), the weekly Mishpacha, and online news websites (B’HadreiHaredim, KikarHaShabbat, and Haredim 10) it explores the strategies employed by Haredi media when reporting on sexual offenses. It demonstrates that ultra-Orthodox media do not primarily serve as platforms for reporting news of public interest, but rather as agents delineating the borders of legitimate public speech.