Difference between revisions of "HonestReporting"

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:Take the case of Gilo, an Israeli settlement that some pro-settler groups have used as a focal point for their campaigns to eliminate the term "settlements" in favor of "neighborhoods." In September 2001, CNN changed its policy on how to characterize Gilo: "We refer to Gilo as 'a Jewish neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem, built on land occupied by Israel in 1967.' We don't refer to it as a settlement," said the order from CNN headquarters. CNN denies that its decision was a concession to outside pressure, but according to veteran Middle East reporter Robert Fisk (London Independent, 9/3/01), sources within the network said that the switch followed "months of internal debate in CNN, which has been constantly criticized by CNN Watch, honestreporting.com and other pro-Israeli pressure groups."<ref>Rachel Coen, [http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2645 Euphemisms for Israeli Settlements Confuse Coverage], August 2002, FAIR.com, accessed 12 Dec 2009</ref>
 
:Take the case of Gilo, an Israeli settlement that some pro-settler groups have used as a focal point for their campaigns to eliminate the term "settlements" in favor of "neighborhoods." In September 2001, CNN changed its policy on how to characterize Gilo: "We refer to Gilo as 'a Jewish neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem, built on land occupied by Israel in 1967.' We don't refer to it as a settlement," said the order from CNN headquarters. CNN denies that its decision was a concession to outside pressure, but according to veteran Middle East reporter Robert Fisk (London Independent, 9/3/01), sources within the network said that the switch followed "months of internal debate in CNN, which has been constantly criticized by CNN Watch, honestreporting.com and other pro-Israeli pressure groups."<ref>Rachel Coen, [http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2645 Euphemisms for Israeli Settlements Confuse Coverage], August 2002, FAIR.com, accessed 12 Dec 2009</ref>
  
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==History==
 
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The following is HonestReporting's description of its founding:
 
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:It was Yom Kippur, 2000. The 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.
 
  
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:So there were 4 or 5 of us British university students, 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.<ref>[http://www.honestreporting.com/a/page.asp?page=11 Our history], HonestReporting website, accessed 12 Dec 2009</ref>
 
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According to the HonestReporting website, the Jerusalem Fund of [[Aish HaTorah]] was instrumental in HonestReporting's founding. It helped "build a website, develop materials and grow the subscriber base even further".<ref>[http://www.honestreporting.com/a/page.asp?page=11 Our history], HonestReporting website, accessed 12 Dec 2009</ref>
 
  
 
==People==
 
==People==

Revision as of 19:39, 15 December 2009

HonestReporting is a media lobbying group which says it is "dedicated to defending Israel against prejudice in the Media".[1] They "aim to provide educational tools and resources to anyone wishing to advocate for Israel".[2]

Honest Reporting describes its mission as follows:

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.
When media bias occurs, our worldwide base of subscribers takes action by contacting news agencies, drawing issues of bias to their attention, and requesting changes. Media outlets, correspondents, and editors are now held accountable for biased reporting and are becoming more aware of the need for factual, impartial and fair reporting. Our subscribers also make use of our Communiqués to bolster their own knowledge and understanding of the often complex issues.
The work of HonestReporting yields results. Since 2000, the organization prompted hundreds of apologies, retractions, and revisions from news outlets. These efforts are changing the face of the media and reporting of Israel throughout the world.
As 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. Our materials provide people with information that is helpful when responding to the Media, in their dealings on Campus or in the work place, and in any other sphere where having credible, considered background material is of value.
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![3]

Visitors to the website can subscribe to updates from HonestReporting.[4] In July 2006 HonestReporting said that it had 140,000 subscribers, 3,000 of whom are in Britain.[5]

Activities

HonestReporting identifies four 'case studies' of its successful intervention in media reporting by CNN, Ithaca Journal, Reuters, and The Dubliner.

Lobbying CNN on Jenin

In the case of CNN, HonestReporting says:

CNN's coverage of the Middle East had been a continual bone of contention since the September 2000 outbreak of Palestinian violence against Israelis. HonestReporting maintained the pressure on the cable news station, highlighting inaccuracies, bias and lack of objectivity.[6]

HonestReporting objected to CNN's repeating what it called a "big lie ... spread by Palestinian spokesmen" that 500 Palestinians died in Jenin in 2002. The Jerusalem Post reported how HonestReporting's efforts paid off:

HonestReporting.com readers sent up to 6,000 e-mails a day to CNN executives, effectively paralyzing their internal e-mail system. The consultant, who was present at several meetings with watchdog groups initiated by CNN, says the top CNN executives had, until then, failed to appreciate the strength of public feeling on the issue.
"At the beginning," says the consultant, "the executives didn't believe there was a problem, mostly out of ignorance of what was going on [in the field]. They were not aware of how often the big lie [that 500 Palestinians died in Jenin in April] was spread by Palestinian spokesmen, and seemed shocked when we told them there were 30 cases in 10 days. They were not watching this narrow little part of CNN's operation – they have to watch what's going on in a massive empire, and suddenly this corner started biting them in the backside."[7]

The upshot was:

HonestReporting was invited to enter into dialogue with executives at CNN's Atlanta headquarters, who demonstrated a genuine sensitivity to HonestReporting's concerns... the network certainly made efforts to improve its reporting.[8]

Lobbying CNN on Israeli settlements

According to a report by Rachel Coen in FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Broadcasting), HonestReporting may have played a part in successfully lobbying CNN to stop using the terms "settlers" or "settlements" to describe Israeli-occupied territories. Instead, CNN was persuaded to describe the settlements as "neighborhoods".[9] The FAIR report, using the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz as its source, says that the original edict for rebranding the settlements as "neighborhoods" came from "a member of the Israeli cabinet" to the Israel Broadcasting Authority, which in turn passed the order on to its editorial departments.[10]

Coen comments:

According to Ha'aretz, "it is not clear if the editors will obey the order." What does seem clear is that settlements - housing built on land illegally seized by Israel after the 1967 war - are such a contentious issue within Israel that the Israeli government would like to stop reporters from even saying the word.[11]

Coen remarks on the irony that an Israeli paper is more open about Israel's settlement policy than the US media:

the opinion pages of an Israeli paper like Ha'aretz often show a franker debate over Israel's aggressive settlement policy than one can generally find in mainstream U.S. media. Government interference doesn't seem to have been necessary to convince some major U.S. news outlets to avoid honest investigation of settlements, and sometimes even to avoid the word itself.[12]

Coen says that this may be due to the activities of pressure groups in the US, including HonestReporting:

Take the case of Gilo, an Israeli settlement that some pro-settler groups have used as a focal point for their campaigns to eliminate the term "settlements" in favor of "neighborhoods." In September 2001, CNN changed its policy on how to characterize Gilo: "We refer to Gilo as 'a Jewish neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem, built on land occupied by Israel in 1967.' We don't refer to it as a settlement," said the order from CNN headquarters. CNN denies that its decision was a concession to outside pressure, but according to veteran Middle East reporter Robert Fisk (London Independent, 9/3/01), sources within the network said that the switch followed "months of internal debate in CNN, which has been constantly criticized by CNN Watch, honestreporting.com and other pro-Israeli pressure groups."[13]


People

As of December 2009:

Endorsements

The HonestReporting website gives endorsements from the following people and organisations. The descriptions are HonestReporting's as of December 2009:[16]

Resources

Contact

US Website: http://www.honestreporting.com/
UK Website: http://www.honestreporting.co.uk/
HonestReporting blog: http://backspin.typepad.com/

USA address

HonestReporting
63 W. 38th St.
Suite 1103
New York, NY 10018
Phone: (646) 654-0316
Fax: (212) 944-1712

Israel address

HonestReporting
1 Shvut Road
Old City, Jerusalem
Israel

Notes

  1. ↑ Our mission, HonestReporting website, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  2. ↑ Our mission, HonestReporting website, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  3. ↑ Our mission, HonestReporting website, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  4. ↑ HonestReporting Homepage, accessed 8 March 2006
  5. ↑ Bad news all in a day's work for editor Simon, HonestReporting website, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  6. ↑ Case Studies: CNN, HonestReporting website, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  7. ↑ Case Studies: CNN, HonestReporting website, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  8. ↑ Case Studies: CNN, HonestReporting website, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  9. ↑ Rachel Coen, Euphemisms for Israeli Settlements Confuse Coverage, August 2002, FAIR.com, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  10. ↑ Rachel Coen, Euphemisms for Israeli Settlements Confuse Coverage, August 2002, FAIR.com, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  11. ↑ Rachel Coen, Euphemisms for Israeli Settlements Confuse Coverage, August 2002, FAIR.com, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  12. ↑ Rachel Coen, Euphemisms for Israeli Settlements Confuse Coverage, August 2002, FAIR.com, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  13. ↑ Rachel Coen, Euphemisms for Israeli Settlements Confuse Coverage, August 2002, FAIR.com, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  14. ↑ Bad news all in a day's work for editor Simon, HonestReporting website, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  15. ↑ Hasbara Fellowships Speakers Bureau, IsraelActivism.com website, accessed 12 Dec 2009
  16. ↑ Endorsements HonestReporting website, accessed 12 Dec 2009
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