|
|
But the local Zionist Central Council is concerned the organisation should not duplicate the work already being done by it and Manchester Jewish Representative Council media analyst Frank Baigel.
Honest Reporting was born in London on Yom Kippur, 2000, by a handful of Jewish university students sick of media distortions and villifications of Israel.
After a few months of running a basic website encouraging people to email complaints to the offending media, the organisation's initiators decided they needed to go professional and handed it over to the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah, who established it in the USA, Canada and Israel.
Last week, Honest Reporting UK launched www.honestreporting.co.uk to monitor the British media.
British senior editor Simon Plosker is due in Manchester on Monday, April 3 (5pm), at the Bewleys Hotel, Manchester Airport Terminal 3, to meet potential local supporters.
Edgware-born Simon, who lives in Modiin, Israel, studied at Birmingham University and the London School of Economics, serving on the Union of Jewish Students' national executive and as a student representative to the Board of Deputies.
Simon, having completed a master's degree on the Arab-Israeli conflict, became British Aliyah Movement co-ordinator and later Board of Deputies public affairs officer.
After emigrating to Israel in 2001, he worked for BICOM before becoming an IDF spokesman and managing editor of the NGO Monitor of the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs.
However, ZCC president Lucille Cohen feels that the British media are already being monitored by existing organisations.
She said: "Honest Reporting was one of the first in the UK to become active in responding to media bias. I and many others were active within that framework. When it moved to the USA, with the America as its main focus, other existing groups here became the main actors.
"While Honest Reporting has been doing some excellent work, I cannot see the need for reinventing the wheel and duplicating what already exists.
"Should people wish to be supportive, involved and active, I feel they should help the existing framework. What I should also like to see is a website for the ZCC, which owing to lack of funds, has not yet been produced."
Mr Plosker said: "There seems to be a lot of concern that we will be reinventing the wheel. I also don't want to do this. The reason why I am trying to meet with people like her is precisely because I know the immense value of what you have been doing.
"HR UK wants to build on the existing infrastructure and not replace it. Through our website, mailing list and the fact that we are an organisation with offices and paid staff, we are in a far better position to expand the numbers of the community who are involved in media bias."
Mrs Cohen and Mr Plosker are due to talk before the hotel meeting which was the brainchild of Whitefield solicitor Bryan Slater. He said: "I don't want to be seen as anti-ZCC. I just think it's fantastic for Honest Reporting to return to its British roots. I want to help it with some of my friends."
|
|
|
|
|
