Emails and comments on HonestReporting's response to Dispatches: Inside Britain's Israel Lobby continue to roll in.
A few readers are asking why we chose not to grant Channel 4's request to interview HR's managing editor, Simon Plosker. It's a fair question — we deliberated over this too.
The aggressive nature of the initial email Plosker received from C4 was a big factor. So was the premise of the documentary, which already seemed to take for granted the existence of an "Israel lobby" in the UK. The email, which basically wanted Plosker to justify HonestReporting's work, reeked of hatchet job.
The possibility of balancing out C4 by playing along with them was accompanied by the risk that Oborne would cherry pick quotes from the interview, as well as the perception of HonestReporting legitimizing Oborne's "investigation" by appearing on it.
Plosker wrote back to C4 offering to answer more specific questions about HonestReporting by email. That message included some background info about HR and himself. But Channel 4 dropped any pretenses of politeness when Peter Oborne barged into MediaCentral office with a film crew looking for Plosker.
(MediaCentral is a Jerusalem-based HonestReporting initiative, providing support services for foreign journalists. The association with HonestReporting is openly stated on MediaCentral's web site.)
Here's the seven-minute portion of the video of relevance to HonestReporting. I think it validates our decision not to legitimize this documentary.
Related HonestReporting links responding to Channel 4:
• 'Myself As Exhibit A'
• Under Attack: HR Accused by UK TV Documentary
• HonestReporting Responds to Channel 4
• Oborne's Opening Shots at the Israel Lobby
• A Warped Look at Britain's 'Israel Lobby'
