Great blog to read thanks!
It was Yom Kippur, 2000. The Intifada had just broken out and a huge wave of terror had suddenly descended upon Israel. The media in Europe was twisting the story to brand Israel as a bad guy! Jews in the UK were in shock and felt under attack. A few idealists decided enough was enough.
"So there were 4 or 5 of us British university students, kicking ideas around, frustrated and wondering what we could do to help Israel. We came up with the idea of encouraging thousands of e-mails to some of the publications in order to make our complaints heard. But in order to create an email protest, we had to have a website. Otherwise people couldn't respond, and we couldn't communicate with a base of supporters. So we just decided to go ahead and do it: design a simple, basic website. The whole project took only a couple of weeks – you know, when you have 4 or 5 people working together, all of whom are really committed, you can get almost anything done."
"Choosing a name took a lot of discussion. At the time, really short, snappy names were in. So for a time, some of us thought that 'HonestReporting' was too long. We wanted something shorter, punchier. We talked and talked, but eventually 'HonestReporting', long as it was, seemed the best. It was both descriptive and accurate. So we went with it. Later, we all agreed it was a good choice."
"We only ran the project for three or four months, just got it off the ground. Then we turned it over to the people running it now. It had to go professional to reach its full potential."
In early 2001, those first volunteers turned to the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah to help build a website, develop materials and grow the subscriber base even further. Later that year, the project, having grown to become a major organization in its own right, was established as a US non-profit organization (501c3) with an Independent Board of Directors.
Two years later, HonestReporting Canada (HRC) was founded as an independent, non-profit organization headquartered in Toronto, Canada. In February of 2006, under a fresh management team, HonestReporting was granted independent Charitable Organization status in Israel to complement its US and Canadian status.
In March 2006, HonestReporting UK was launched under the guidance of the team's two ex-pat Britons; Joe Hyams, Managing Director, and Simon Plosker, Senior Editor. HonestReporting UK expects to achieve UK Registered Charity Status with an Independent Board in due course.
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Topic: Honest Reporting great site (Read 989 times)