Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

Backward Reveals Newly Absorbent Napkin-Format Print Edition

In a letter to subscribers, new Backward owner, the virile Sheldon Adelson announced that the newspaper’s print edition is undergoing an extensive redesign to allow this august paper to be printed entirely on a small paper napkin.

“In the old days, my father used the Backward to wrap the fish he sold from his pushcart,” Adelson said. “But times change. We need to serve a new generation.”

Explaining that the new, more compact design would better reflect the modern economics of the newspaper business, and the attention span of modern readers, Adelson said that the new Backward would still maintain the paper’s stature.

“Say you’re reading the Backward and you get a little schmutz on your face,” explained the mogul. “Or you have to blow your nose. Or the bathroom’s out of toilet paper. In the old days, you’d be stuck. But now, you have the Backward.”

Adelson denied that the redesign was purely a cost-cutting move.

“This is going to be a quilted, double-ply newspaper. Very absorbent, no chafing.”

The online version of the paper will likewise be undergoing a redesign for the mobile age with the launch of the BAppWard app for iPhone, Android and cordless phone.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.