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HonestReporting

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HonestReporting (also Honest Reporting or honestreporting.com) is a watchdog organisation that monitors the media for what it considers criticism against Israel.[1] The organization has affiliates in the United States, UK, Canada, Italy, and Brazil.

History

HonestReporting, so named as it sounded "descriptive and accurate" to founders, was founded by a 4 or 5 British university students in 2000 during Yom Kippur, when "The Second Intifada had just broken out and a huge wave of terror had suddenly descended upon Israel. The media in Europe was twisting the story to brand Israel as a bad guy. Jews in the UK were in shock and felt under attack. A few idealists decided enough was enough". The founders ran the project for three or four months and then "turned it over to the people running it now" for "it had to go professional to reach its full potential." In early 2001, they asked the assistance of Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah to "build a website, develop materials and grow the subscriber base even further".[2] Concurrently, Rabbi Shraga Simmons was developing a media bias website in Jerusalem (featuring the Seven 7 Principles of Media Objectivity),[3] and Simmons was tapped to become the editor of HonestReporting, a position which he held for five years. Rabbi Ephraim Shore joined HonestReporting soon afterwards,[citation needed] and organized an "independent" USA board of directors and established HonestReporting as a "registered non-profit 501(c)3 organization."[citation needed]

"So there were, kicking ideas around, frustrated and wondering what we could do to help Israel. We came up with the idea of encouraging thousands of e-mails to some of the publications in order to make our complaints heard. But in order to create an email protest, we had to have a website. Otherwise people couldn't respond, and we couldn't communicate with a base of supporters. So we just decided to go ahead and do it: design a simple, basic website. The whole project took only a couple of weeks – you know, when you have 4 or 5 people working together, all of whom are really committed, you can get almost anything done."

[2]

In 2003, HonestReporting Canada (HRC) was founded as an "independent, non-profit organization" headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

In February of 2006, under a new management team, HonestReporting was granted "independent Charitable Organization status in Israel to complement its US and Canadian status."

In March 2006, HonestReporting UK was launched under the guidance of the team's two ex-pat Britons; Joe Hyams, Managing Director, and Simon Plosker, Senior Editor. HonestReporting UK expects to achieve UK Registered Charity Status with an Independent Board in due course.

Mission

HR's self mission statement claims,

Israel is in the midst of a battle for public opinion – waged primarily via the media. To ensure Israel is represented fairly and accurately "'HonestReporting'" monitors the media, exposes cases of bias, promotes balance, and effects change through education and action. ... Why is the struggle for media fairness so important? The media sways public opinion, which directly affects foreign policy towards Israel and in turn the lives of her citizens. One person alone may not impact this struggle, but thousands united can! [4]

HR claims since 2000, it "prompted hundreds of apologies, retractions, and revisions from news outlets" and their efforts are "changing the face of the media and reporting of Israel throughout the world." HR defines itself "as an organization dedicated to defending Israel against prejudice in the Media" they "aim to provide educational tools and resources to anyone wishing to advocate for Israel".[4]

Activities

Film production

Honest Reporting, in addition to media watch activities, produced a documentary discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict in association with The Clarion Fund (which is headed by Ephraim Shore's twin brother Raphael Shore[5].) This film was entitled Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East. . Recently, the same team produced a film titled Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West. Honest Reporting's subsequent videos include What Really Happened?, which deals with the al-Durrah affair.

Criticism

The American Journalism Review criticized HonestReporting:

"Frequently, these so-called media monitors, who say they are only interested in fairness and balance, will seize on a word or a phrase and leave out the context. Take the case of a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial that called both PLO leader Yassir Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon 'pigheaded and destructive.' In a communiqué urging readers to complain to the Inquirer, HonestReporting.com omitted the reference to Arafat to make the editorial sound like a one-sided attack on Sharon."[6]

See also


References

  1. ^ HonestReporting says of itself that it is "an organization dedicated to defending Israel against prejudice in the Media, we aim to provide educational tools and resources to anyone wishing to advocate for Israel." HonestReporting, Our Mission, accessed 18 July 2009
  2. ^ a b http://www.honestreporting.com/a/page.asp?page=11
  3. ^ http://www.aish.com/jw/mo/48914622.html
  4. ^ a b http://www.honestreporting.com/a/page.asp?page=12
  5. ^ http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43983
  6. ^ 'Caught in the Crossfire'. American Journalism Review, June/July 2004.
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