Politics & Power Quote by Benjamin Cohen

Origin stories usually get polished into mythology; Benjamin Cohen’s is refreshingly procedural, almost anti-mythic. A rabbi sends a note. A community paper bites. A national outlet follows. “Things grew from there” lands like a shrug, but it’s doing two jobs at once: demystifying media success while quietly mapping how it actually happens.

The intent is partly corrective. In a culture that loves the lone-genius narrative, Cohen foregrounds infrastructure: relationships, trust networks, and the small pipelines that feed bigger ones. The Jewish Chronicle isn’t a quaint footnote here; it’s the launchpad. Subtext: niche institutions don’t just “represent” communities, they function as gatekeepers and accelerators, especially for people whose identities are routinely flattened by mainstream coverage. A rabbi isn’t merely a religious figure; he’s a connector, a validator, someone whose endorsement carries social capital.

There’s also a sly self-awareness in the phrasing “profile piece on myself.” It hints at the oddness of being turned into content, particularly for a journalist. He’s describing the moment the observer becomes the observed, and he does it without faux modesty or self-congratulation. Just the chain of events.

Context matters: for British Jewish life, local papers and communal networks have long served as semi-formal PR machines, career ladders, and reputational safety nets. Cohen’s anecdote doubles as a mini-critique of the national media ecosystem: it often waits for someone else to pre-vet a story before declaring it newsworthy. The growth isn’t organic so much as syndicated legitimacy.