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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]
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]
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]
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]
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