Welcome to the inaugural communique of HonestReporting UK. This well-established media watch organisation has finally arrived with its own dedicated site focused on promoting accountability in the British media’s coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is your opportunity to get involved in challenging media bias and effecting change. Our communiques will also educate and inform on some of the major issues appearing in our newspapers and on our television screens.
Since 2000, HonestReporting has monitored the media, exposing cases of bias, promoting balance and effecting change through education and action to ensure Israel is represented fairly and accurately. HonestReporting’s method is simple – we monitor the print and broadcast media, alerting our subscribers to examples of media bias through free regular e-mail communiques, and providing the tools to enable individuals to respond in an effective, informed and sensible manner. One person alone may not make an impact but thousands united can.
In addition, our constantly updated web log Backspin, gives you the opportunity to review and comment on some of the major issues taking place in Israel, the Middle East and the international media, while our regular Leadership Missions to Israel give participants an unrivalled opportunity to meet with and listen to high-level personalities from all sides of the political spectrum and to really understand the issues.
Prior to this, HonestReporting has spread its resources across the globe, encouraging some 140,000 subscribers to respond to media bias wherever it may occur. The success of our affiliate HonestReporting Canada in getting many corrections and clarifications from the Canadian media demonstrates the value of focusing our efforts at a local level to achieve the maximum success. So much of HonestReporting’s output has dealt with the British media that it was only natural that we finally launch a UK site focusing on British media issues and addressing the systemic anti-Israel bias present in much of the mainstream print and broadcast media.
Over the coming months, HonestReporting UK will be at the cutting edge of internet activism, employing the latest web technologies to achieve our mission and keep our material interesting and useful for our readers.
Staffed by an experienced and dedicated team of professionals, HonestReporting UK is apolitical and unaffiliated with any political group or party either in Israel or Britain. We take no official stand on Israeli government policies but we do intend to challenge the media to accurately report the stories and to tackle bias where it occurs. We are a cross-communal organisation that is happy to work in partnership and cooperation with other like-minded bodies and individuals, such as Trevor Asserson of BBCWatch, with whom we will be working on future projects, to further our goals. Our effectiveness is based on encouraging ordinary and extraordinary people like you to make a difference.
HonestReporting UK expects to achieve charitable status in Britain in the future. In the meantime, if you like what you see and wish to donate, you can do so through our US and international site. Your contribution will make a difference.
If you haven’t already subscribed, please do so and sign up your family and friends – the more of you who get involved, the greater our collective impact will be.
This is your chance to redress the balance – join HonestReporting UK to promote accountability and challenge media bias.
