Many of us who are passionate about Israel and alarmed by the frequent falsehoods about the Jewish state in secular media are aware of the groundbreaking work of HonestReporting.
In response to the rapid rise of distorted and dishonest press coverage following the October 7 attacks, HonestReporting took their activities to a whole new level.
As their Editorial Director Simon Plosker shared with The Jewish Link: “HonestReporting was already in the process of expanding its social media reach even before October 7, but after Hamas’ brutal terror attacks and the resulting wave of online hate, HR’s platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, went into overdrive. In 2024 alone, across all platforms combined, HR’s content had a reach of over 166 million impressions. Our posts are reaching beyond the choir and particularly resonating with younger generations who get their news primarily from social media.
“HonestReporting also made a significant impact on the media battlefield after exposing several Gazan photojournalists working for mainstream media, including AP, Reuters and CNN, who broke across the border on October 7 and with Hamas’ blessing, documented the brutalities as they were taking place. As a result of HR’s investigations into over two dozen journalists, seven have been fired or reassigned since the October 7 massacre while HR has been campaigning for accountability over a further 20 who continue to be employed by mainstream media, including Reuters, AP, AFP, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and CBS News.”
In recognition of their singularly effective work during the war, HonestReporting’s Executive Director Gil Hoffman was one of 50 people to receive an award at the Voices of Iron Ceremony held in the Israeli Knesset on January 7, hosted by Likud MK Dan Illouz and attended by Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.
Hoffman stated at the ceremony: “I’m proud that HonestReporting is being honored because the team has been in the trenches this entire war, fighting against the biased coverage of Israel in the international media. Winning on the media battlefield is the key to winning on the military battlefield, and that has been proven time and time again in this war. Unfortunately, this war needed time to achieve its military accomplishments, and if it wasn’t for the work that organizations like HonestReporting and others being honored here today, there’s no way there would have been the international legitimacy required to give the time to accomplish what needed to be done.”
For more information on the work of HonestReporting, and how to get involved, please see: https://honestreporting.com/
Harry Glazer is the Middlesex County editor of The Jewish Link. He can be reached at [email protected] and he welcomes reader feedback.
