HonestReporting
Encyclopedia
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
that monitors the media for what it perceives as bias against Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. The organization has affiliates in the United States, UK, Canada, Italy, and Brazil. Critics of the organization claim that it uses coercive tactics to silence critics of Israeli government policy.
History
HonestReporting (HR), was founded by British university students in 2000, during Yom KippurYom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
, at the onset of the Second Intifada, which led to the death of hundreds of Israelis and thousands of Palestinians. HonestReporting's self-declared mission is to expose what its members consider bias against Israel in the western media.
In 2003, HonestReporting Canada (HRC) was founded as an "independent, non-profit organization" headquartered in Toronto, Canada .
In February 2006, HonestReporting was granted "independent Charitable Organization status in Israel to complement its US and Canadian status."
In March 2006, HonestReporting UK was launched by two expatriate Britons, Managing Director Joe Hyams, and Senior Editor Simon Plosker . HonestReporting UK is seeking to achieve UK Registered Charity Status.
Mission
HR's self-declared mission statement claims that,
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
HR claims that since 2000, it has "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".
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 ShoreRaphael Shore
Raphael Shore is an Canadian-Israeli film writer, producer, and rabbi. He is the founder of The Clarion Fund, a non-profit organization that seeks to advance the idea that the United States faces a threat of radical Islam....
.) This film was entitled Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East
Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East
Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East, also known as Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in Israel, is a 2003 documentary produced by the pro-Israel media watchdog group HonestReporting...
. The same team produced a film titled Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, also called Obsession, is a 2005 documentary film about the perceived threat of radical Islam to Western civilization. Using extensive Arab television footage it claims to give an 'insider's view' of the hatred preached by radicals to incite global...
. Honest Reporting's subsequent videos include What Really Happened?, which deals with the al-Durrah affair
Muhammad al-Durrah
The Muhammad al-Durrah incident took place in the Gaza Strip on September 30, 2000, on the second day of the Second Intifada, amid widespread rioting throughout the Palestinian territories...
.
Criticism
HonestReporting is accused by its critics of making inaccurate, distorted and often deceptive claims. In an article published by the British paper The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, author Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk is an English writer and journalist from Maidstone, Kent. As Middle East correspondent of The Independent, he has primarily been based in Beirut for more than 30 years. He has published a number of books and has reported on the United States's war in Afghanistan and the same country's...
has claimed that some purported HonestReporting readers have engaged in hate-mail against writers whose point of view they dislike, based on erroneous and false information. HonestReporting has in turn published stories critical of Fisk
Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk is an English writer and journalist from Maidstone, Kent. As Middle East correspondent of The Independent, he has primarily been based in Beirut for more than 30 years. He has published a number of books and has reported on the United States's war in Afghanistan and the same country's...
on their website. HonestReporting, when exposing media bias, simply asks their readers to "Send your considered comments to
Writer George Beres, writing for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, criticized HonestReporting for engaging in "Israeli propaganda".
The American Journalism Review
American Journalism Review
The American Journalism Review is a U.S. magazine covering topics in journalism. It is published six times a year by the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. The AJR has been owned since the late 1980s by a foundation of the university...
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."
Honest Reporting Canada
HonestReporting Canada (HRC) is the Canadian branch of the organization. It monitors Canadian media coverage of Israel and the Middle East to promote what it calls "balanced, accurate, and unbiased reporting" about Israel.HonestReporting Canada (HRC) was established in 2003 as an independent, non-profit group headquartered in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Since then, HRC has opened an office in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
in April 2008, giving them official national and bilingual status. HRC plans to further expand across the country to other large Canadian cities and extend their operations to include regular monitoring of college and university campus papers.
The executive director of HonestReporting Canada is Mike Fegelman and Assistant Director is Paul Agoston. Prominent Canadian Conservative Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister Peter Kent
Peter Kent
Peter Kent, PC, MP is a Conservative member of parliament for the riding of Thornhill, and the current Minister of the Environment in the 28th Canadian Ministry.Previously, he was Deputy Editor of Global Television, a Canadian TV network...
has served on the board of Honest Reporting Canada.
See also
- Arab Media WatchArab Media WatchArab Media Watch is a London-based media watchdog organization with the stated aim of working toward objective British media coverage of the Arab world. Founded in 2000, by Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi, Arab Media Watch is the "only organization of its kind in the UK". The organization monitors...
- Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in AmericaCommittee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in AmericaThe Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America is an American non-profit pro-Israel media watchdog group. The group says it was founded in 1982 "to respond to the Washington Post's coverage of Israel's Lebanon incursion", and to respond to what it considers the media's "general...
- Fairness and Accuracy in ReportingFairness and Accuracy in ReportingFairness & Accuracy In Reporting is a progressive media criticism organization based in New York City, founded in 1986.FAIR describes itself on its website as "the national media watch group" and defines its mission as working to "invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity...
- Media Watch InternationalMedia Watch InternationalMedia Watch International is a media monitoring organization founded by Sharon Tzur and based in New York. It describes itself as "an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to advancing Israel's image by promoting accurate, impartial media coverage of, and providing timely, factual...
- Media biasMedia biasMedia bias refers to the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism, rather than the...
- Media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict
- Jewish Internet Defense ForceJewish Internet Defense ForceThe Jewish Internet Defense Force is an organization that uses social media to mobilize support for campaigns against websites and Facebook groups that promote or praise what it regards as Islamic terrorism or antisemitism. The group's website describes the JIDF as a private, independent,...
External links
- Honest Reporting official website
- Honest Reporting Canada: the official Canadian affiliate
- HonestReporting.org, which reports critically on HonestReporting
- Media manipulators by David LeighDavid LeighDavid Leigh is a British journalist and author, currently investigations executive editor of The Guardian.-Early life:Leigh was born in 1946 and educated at Nottingham High School and King's College, Cambridge, receiving a research degree from Cambridge in 1968.-Career:Leigh has been a prominent...
in The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, criticizing HonestReporting - HonestReporting.com's response to the "Media manipulators" article, at aish.com