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HonestReporting

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HonestReporting or Honest Reporting is an Israeli media advocacy group.[1] A pro-Israel media watchdog,[2][3] it describes its mission as "combat[ting] ideological prejudice in journalism and the media, as it impacts Israel".[1]

History

HonestReporting describes itself "a charitable organisation" with a mission "to combat ideological prejudice in journalism and the media, as it impacts Israel".[1] It was founded in October 2000 by Shaul Rosenblatt, founder and head of Aish Hatorah-United Kingdom in response to controversy over the Tuvia Grossman photograph at the outbreak of the Second Intifada. The episode is often cited by those who accuse the media of having an anti-Israel bias, and was the impetus for the founding of HonestReporting.[4][5][6]

Within six weeks, HonestReporting had an email list of 10,000 volunteers to monitor the media and respond accordingly. Irwin Katsof offered to lead fundraising efforts to hire professional staff.[6] By 2003 the list had 150,000 subscribers and began raising funds for it to become an independent organization.[citation needed]

As of 2022, the Chief Executive Officer of HonestReporting was Jacki Alexander.[7] She previously worked at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Florida and has a master's degree in the History of International Relations from the London School of Economics and BA in History and Religious Studies.[citation needed] Gil Hoffman was appointed as the Executive Director of HonestReporting in 2022. He previously served as the chief political correspondent and analyst for the Jerusalem Post.[8]

In March 2006, a dedicated website by HonestReporting for covering the Media in the UK was launched by two expatriate Britons, CEO Joe Hyams, and Managing Editor Simon Plosker;[9] in 2011, the HR UK website was merged into the main site.[10]

HonestReporting Canada (HRC) was founded as an independent group in 2003 to monitor Middle East news coverage in Canada. Journalist Jonathan Kay credited HRC with reducing perceived anti-Israel bias in the English-language media in Canada by 2011.[11][12] In 2012, a campaign by HRC led to a Canadian Broadcast Standards Council investigation after local politician Stéphane Gendron made controversial comments on the French-language V Television Network.[13]

Activities

HonestReporting reviews news articles and op-eds regarding Israel to check for and respond to any bias or fake news.[14][15] They create and distribute content and tools for readers to understand news about Israel from a fair perspective.[16] They hold in-person and on-line events with experts about how the Jewish people and Israel is portrayed in the media.[17] HonestReporting is not a news organization, and therefore does not seek to follow journalistic ethics and standards.[18]

HonestReporting's actions have resulted in a number of corrections in the media including:

  • Idris Muktar Ibrahim, a producer at CNN, was found to have written on Twitter praise for Hamas and in a separate tweet posted "#TeamHitler."[19] After HonestReporting contacted CNN about the producer's ability to report impartially, CNN ended their working relationship with him.[20] He later apologized.[21]
  • In 2012, HonestReporting filed a complaint with the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) in the UK after The Guardian ran a correction apologizing for having called Jerusalem Israel's capital, contrary to the paper's style guide. HonestReporting acted to initiate a judicial review after the PCC initially ruled that The Guardian had not breached the PCC code, saying that the ruling had "potential to further delegitimize Jerusalem’s status as Israel’s capital." The PCC retracted its original ruling and asked the paper to defend its position. The Guardian, then modified its style guide so that it no longer categorically states that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel rather than Jerusalem.[22]
  • Award-winning journalist Shatha Hammad was discovered to have posted on Facebook that she was friends with Adolf Hitler[23] and that they "share the same ideology, such as the extermination of the Jews"[24] Hammad made other posts using the nickname "Hitler" and denying Israel's right to exist.[25] She also termed terrorists who murdered Israeli worshippers in the 2014 Jerusalem synagogue attack as "martyrs." After HonestReporting's exposure of her posts, the Thomson Reuters Foundation and the Kurt Schork Memorial Fund withdrew the awards they had granted her.[26]
  • News producer Fady Hanona was discovered to have posted Anti-semitic social media posts by HonestReporting,[27][28] leading news outlets he previously worked for such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and others to cut ties with him.[29]

Criticism

The American Journalism Review described the organisation as a "pro-Israeli pressure group".[30]

After being criticized by HonestReporting for articles published by The Independent, author Robert Fisk wrote in the Independent that some of their readers sent him hate-mail.[31]

Following a 2004 article published in the British Medical Journal which criticised Israel for a high level of Palestinian civilian casualties and claimed that the pattern of injuries suggested routine targeting of children in situations of minimal or no threat, the journal received over 500 responses to its website and nearly 1,000 sent directly to its editor. In an analysis of the responses published in the journal, Karl Sabbagh concluded that the correspondence was orchestrated by Honest Reporting and aimed at silencing legitimate criticism of Israel. In his analysis Sabbagh pointed to evidence that the correspondents had not read the article. Sabbagh also documented a significant proportion of offensive, abusive and racist insults among the correspondence. An editorial by the BMJ referred to the campaign as bullying and said that the best way to counter such behaviour was to expose it to public scrutiny.[32][33] Daniel Finkelstein, associate editor of The Times, responded that Sabbagh's piece was "anti-Israel propaganda" that did not meet even "basic academic standards" of scientific analysis.[34]

During the Israel–Hamas war, HonestReporting said that the journalists who had photographed the October 7 Hamas attack were "part of the plan" and involved in "coordination with the terrorists"; later, the group's executive director said he had no evidence for the allegation. The report led two Israeli politicians to threaten that these journalists be killed,[35] while the Israeli Prime Minister's office said the journalists were "accomplices in crimes against humanity".[36] The Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times and CNN strongly refuted allegations that they had prior knowledge of the Hamas attack. Yousef Masoud, whose photos were published in the NYT and AP, started photographing 90 minutes after the attack started. Reuters said that its pictures, taken by two freelance photojournalists, were taken two hours after the attack began. Additional criticism also came from the Committee to Protect Journalists. The AP and CNN announced that they would stop working with one of the freelance photographers, after HonestReporting showed a picture of him being kissed by Hamas leader Yehia Sinwar.[37][38][36] Reuters described the allegations from HonestReporting as "irresponsible" and "baseless speculation" that resulted in threats towards journalists. HonestReporting stated that they "stated nothing firmly" and are not responsible for the consequences of "asking questions."[18] In February 2024 letter to the Office of the Consulate General of Israel in New York, the New York Times demanded that Israel cease circulating the allegations, stating that "Honest Reporting has once again been trafficking in falsehoods about Mr. Masoud".[39]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Balmer, Crispian (November 11, 2023). "HonestReporting accepts news groups had no prior warning of Oct. 7 Hamas attack". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 13, 2023. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  2. ^ Sokol, Sam (November 9, 2023). "News Agencies Dispute Israeli Allegations of Complicity in Hamas Massacre". Haaretz. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  3. ^ "Gil Hoffman". The Jerusalem Post. 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  4. ^ "Carnage for the Cameras". The Wall Street Journal. October 6, 2000. Archived from the original on September 30, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  5. ^ Koltermann, Felix (2017). Fotoreporter im Konflikt: Der internationale Fotojournalismus in Israel/Palästina. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. pp. 25 n.3.
  6. ^ a b Rosenblum, Yonoson (March 2, 2020). Rav Noach Weinberg: Torah Revolutionary. Mosaica Press. pp. 495–497. ISBN 978-1946351876. Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  7. ^ Pierre, Dion J. (October 19, 2022). "Journalism Award Stripped from Palestinian Journalist Over Antisemitic Facebook Posts". The Algemeiner. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  8. ^ "HonestReporting announces appointment of Gil Hoffman as new executive director". Religion News Service. May 25, 2022. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  9. ^ "HonestReporting Launches UK Site". TJ News Archive. Archived from the original on August 24, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  10. ^ "HR: Elevating Action Against the UK Media". HonestReporting. August 3, 2011. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  11. ^ Glinter, Ezra (October 11, 2007). "Films at Concordia cause controversy". Canadian Jewish News. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007.
  12. ^ Kay, Jonathan (November 4, 2011). "Jonathan Kay on Stéphane Gendron, Quebec's Israel-hater en chef". National Post. Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  13. ^ "Quebec mayor under fire for anti-Israel remarks". CBC. January 6, 2012. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  14. ^ "'Al Jazeera witness is PIJ terrorist' claims pro-Israel watchdog". i24NEWS. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023. HonestReporting executive director Gil Hoffman stated: "The credibility of the investigations of Al Jazeera in probing Abu Akleh's death are questionable now that HonestReporting exposed their chief witness as an active member of a murderous terrorist organization.
  15. ^ "Time Retracts Claim That Israeli Troops Harvested Palestinian Organs". Haaretz. August 25, 2014. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  16. ^ Jensen, Elizabeth (January 25, 2016). "NPR's Error-Filled Map: An Explanation". NPR.org. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  17. ^ "JNF inaugurates breakfast for Israel". Jewish Standard. May 4, 2017. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  18. ^ a b Balmer, Crispian. "HonestReporting accepts news groups had no prior warning of Oct. 7 Hamas attack". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 13, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  19. ^ "CNN Cans Producer Idris Mukhtar Ibrahim After He Posts About Praising Hamas Terrorism & Writing '#TeamHitler' On Twitter". MSN. November 19, 2022. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  20. ^ Halon, Yael; Grossman, Hannah (November 18, 2022). "CNN drops producer Idris Mukhtar Ibrahim over Hamas praise, '#TeamHitler' post". New York Post. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  21. ^ Shiundu, Linda (December 24, 2022). "Idris Muktar: Kenyan Journalist Says Tweets He Posted 10 Years Ago Cost Him CNN Job". Tuko. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  22. ^ Ahern, Raphael (August 8, 2012). "Guardian: We were wrong to call Tel Aviv Israel's capital". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on February 29, 2024. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  23. ^ Halon, Yael (October 19, 2022). "Reuters rescinds award from Palestinian journalist following surfaced social media posts praising Hitler". Fox News. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  24. ^ "Palestinian journalist stripped of award over antisemitic comments". Arab News. October 21, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  25. ^ i24NEWS (October 19, 2022). "Palestinian journalist stripped of award for pro-Hitler remarks". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ Ben-David, Daniel (October 19, 2022). "Reuters strips award from Palestinian journalist after she said 'I'm friends with Hitler'". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023. On Sunday, media watchdog HonestReporting uncovered posts made by Shatha Hammad, a freelance journalist who has written for Middle East Eye and Al Jazeera, in which she signed off her Facebook comments using the nickname "Hitler".
  27. ^ "NY Times cuts ties with Gaza freelancer who called to kill Jews 'like Hitler did'". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  28. ^ Kesslen, Ben (August 15, 2022). "NY Times cuts ties with freelancer who called for killing Jews 'like Hitler did'". New York Post. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  29. ^ Clarke, Tyrone (August 22, 2022). "The Guardian and the ABC join global media outlets in cutting ties with anti-Semitic freelance journalist Fady Hanona". Sky News. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  30. ^ Matusow, Barbara (June–July 2004). "Caught in the Crossfire". American Journalism Review. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  31. ^ Fisk, Robert (May 28, 2001). "The internet threat to truly honest reporting". The Independent. Retrieved March 3, 2011.[dead link]
  32. ^ Godlee, Fiona & Delamothe, Tony (2009). "What to do about orchestrated email campaigns". British Medical Journal. 338: b500. doi:10.1136/bmj.b500. PMID 19244222. S2CID 34867504. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  33. ^ Sabbagh, Karl (February 24, 2009). "Perils of criticising Israel". British Medical Journal. 338: a2066. doi:10.1136/bmj.a2066. PMID 19244219. S2CID 7160405. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  34. ^ Finkelstein, Daniel (March 5, 2009). "Medical journal made me ill". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
  35. ^ "Media watchdog says it was just 'raising questions' with insinuations about photographers and Hamas". AP News. November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  36. ^ a b "Reuters denies any suggestion it had prior knowledge of Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel". Reuters. November 9, 2023. Archived from the original on December 13, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  37. ^ Oliver Darcy (November 10, 2023). "News outlets deny prior knowledge of Hamas attack after Israeli government demands answers over misleading report". CNN. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  38. ^ Barr, Jeremy (November 9, 2023). "News organizations deny advance knowledge of Hamas attack". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  39. ^ David McCraw (February 24, 2024). "Response from The New York Times to the Office of the Consulate General of Israel Regarding Yousef Masoud". Archived from the original on March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
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