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Media watchdog keeps eye out for biased reporting
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BY: ARLENE FINE Senior Staff Reporter
“Most of the non-Jewish press assumes that whenever there is conflict in the Middle East, Israel is guilty until proven innocent,” says Gary Kenzer, executive director of HonestReporting.com.
The Web-based grassroots organization is focused on changing this perception. The seven-member HonestReporting staff, six of whom are based in Israel, is trained to monitor the media and to expose cases of anti-Israel bias.
The nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization was founded seven years ago by a small group of British university students as a way to counterbalance anti-Israel bias demonstrated by the European media in their coverage of the intifada. They formed a simple website to create an e-mail protest and now boast more than 160,000 subscribers to their free weekly updates sent via e-mail.
Since 2000, HonestReporting has prompted hundreds of apologies, retractions and revisions from various news outlets.
Beachwood resident Steve Egar is a long-time HonestReporting supporter. “I’ve looked at a lot of websites, but HonestReporting is at the forefront of giving people information on biased reporting in a timely basis,” says Egar. “It is action-oriented. When it exposes unfair reporting, the website directs people how to take proper action. It is not only reactive, it is proactive.”
Operating on a small budget received from private donations, all communication is delivered via the Internet. “The Web is the ideal outlet to reach our subscribers,” says Kenzer. “It is simple, inexpensive and immediate.”
However, gathering the information to post on the Internet is extremely time-consuming. That’s where former Baltimore Jewish Times reporter Pesach Benson comes in.
As editor of Backspin the HonestReporting blog, Benson reads online editions of 250 international periodicals each day. As he zeroes in on articles relating to Israel, he uses his special “lens” to look for slanted articles or photographs. He reports his findings to staff and volunteers; blatant examples of biased news stories then appear on the HonestReporting blog.
Although he is gratified by the steady growth of HonestReporting subscribers, Kenzer insists that just reading HonestReporting website each day is not enough.
“Our goal is to educate hundreds of thousands of people to become media watchdogs themselves and to learn how to work with their hometown media,” he says. “We want them to develop a relationship with local media, so that these news sources learn to objectively look for stories that are biased against Israel.”
Supporters are also encouraged to fax or e-mail biased news stories directly to HonestReporting. “We never report slanted articles unless we validate the information by checking out the stories ourselves,” explains Kenzer. “Only when we are sure of their content do we call these stories to our subscribers’ attention.”
In addition to fundraising responsibilities, Kenzer also serves as an educator. He teaches supporters how to become media savvy. In his training sessions, often held at people’s homes and at synagogues, Kenzer advises readers to carefully study photos relating to Israel that appear in their local newspapers.
“If someone sees a photo that does not seem right, we tell people to Goggle the photographer’s name and see who hired him/her for past projects,” says Kenzer. “This might offer an insight into a photographer’s bias.”
Kenzer cites an internationally published photo that appeared several years ago. It showed an Arab child in Gaza, dressed in bedclothes hugging a teddy bear while sitting in a room riddled with bullets.
“It was clear this was a posed photo,” says Kenzer. “We looked closely at the room and realized this was not a young child’s bedroom, but rather a room where they posed an appealing child for dramatic effect.”
Last year HonestReporting received a family grant from the New York Jewish Community Federation to open a media center in Jerusalem. The center serves as a press office for all journalists. “It enables reporters and news outlets to receive factual information and photographs about all news occurring in Israel,” says Kenzer.
No one thinks twice about attacking Israel in print, continues Kenzer. “We realize that Israel is not perfect, but perfection is not a prerequisite for fair and balanced reporting by national media. We just ask that the media treat every country and government by the same measuring stick.”
afine@cjn.org
The Web-based grassroots organization is focused on changing this perception. The seven-member HonestReporting staff, six of whom are based in Israel, is trained to monitor the media and to expose cases of anti-Israel bias.
The nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization was founded seven years ago by a small group of British university students as a way to counterbalance anti-Israel bias demonstrated by the European media in their coverage of the intifada. They formed a simple website to create an e-mail protest and now boast more than 160,000 subscribers to their free weekly updates sent via e-mail.
Since 2000, HonestReporting has prompted hundreds of apologies, retractions and revisions from various news outlets.
Beachwood resident Steve Egar is a long-time HonestReporting supporter. “I’ve looked at a lot of websites, but HonestReporting is at the forefront of giving people information on biased reporting in a timely basis,” says Egar. “It is action-oriented. When it exposes unfair reporting, the website directs people how to take proper action. It is not only reactive, it is proactive.”
Operating on a small budget received from private donations, all communication is delivered via the Internet. “The Web is the ideal outlet to reach our subscribers,” says Kenzer. “It is simple, inexpensive and immediate.”
However, gathering the information to post on the Internet is extremely time-consuming. That’s where former Baltimore Jewish Times reporter Pesach Benson comes in.
As editor of Backspin the HonestReporting blog, Benson reads online editions of 250 international periodicals each day. As he zeroes in on articles relating to Israel, he uses his special “lens” to look for slanted articles or photographs. He reports his findings to staff and volunteers; blatant examples of biased news stories then appear on the HonestReporting blog.
Although he is gratified by the steady growth of HonestReporting subscribers, Kenzer insists that just reading HonestReporting website each day is not enough.
“Our goal is to educate hundreds of thousands of people to become media watchdogs themselves and to learn how to work with their hometown media,” he says. “We want them to develop a relationship with local media, so that these news sources learn to objectively look for stories that are biased against Israel.”
Supporters are also encouraged to fax or e-mail biased news stories directly to HonestReporting. “We never report slanted articles unless we validate the information by checking out the stories ourselves,” explains Kenzer. “Only when we are sure of their content do we call these stories to our subscribers’ attention.”
In addition to fundraising responsibilities, Kenzer also serves as an educator. He teaches supporters how to become media savvy. In his training sessions, often held at people’s homes and at synagogues, Kenzer advises readers to carefully study photos relating to Israel that appear in their local newspapers.
“If someone sees a photo that does not seem right, we tell people to Goggle the photographer’s name and see who hired him/her for past projects,” says Kenzer. “This might offer an insight into a photographer’s bias.”
Kenzer cites an internationally published photo that appeared several years ago. It showed an Arab child in Gaza, dressed in bedclothes hugging a teddy bear while sitting in a room riddled with bullets.
“It was clear this was a posed photo,” says Kenzer. “We looked closely at the room and realized this was not a young child’s bedroom, but rather a room where they posed an appealing child for dramatic effect.”
Last year HonestReporting received a family grant from the New York Jewish Community Federation to open a media center in Jerusalem. The center serves as a press office for all journalists. “It enables reporters and news outlets to receive factual information and photographs about all news occurring in Israel,” says Kenzer.
No one thinks twice about attacking Israel in print, continues Kenzer. “We realize that Israel is not perfect, but perfection is not a prerequisite for fair and balanced reporting by national media. We just ask that the media treat every country and government by the same measuring stick.”
afine@cjn.org
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