February 27, 2026 | 10 Adar 5786
Candlelighting 5:51 p.m. | Havdalah 6:51 p.m. | Vol. 69, No. 9 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
HonestReporting’s Gil Hoffman makes a stop in Pittsburgh to discuss ‘Israel and the Media Landscape’
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL ‘A Hard Night’s Megillah’
somewhere, where an intern would bring it to an editor smoking a cigar, and he’d decide whether to put it on page 12 or 13, with no context whatsoever,” he said. “It doesn’t work like that anymore.” HonestReporting, Hoffman explained, has eight categories of media bias for which it searches: misleading terminology, imbalanced reporting, opinions disguised as news, lack of context, selective omission, using true facts to draw false conclusions, distortion of facts and lack of transparency. Rather than a team of intrepid reporters reading, watching and listening to various news sites to find those eight categories of bias, HonestReporting is operating firmly in the 21st century. “We’ve trained AI to find these automatically,” Hoffman explained, “which flags it for us, and then we can get it changed online within minutes before anyone has a chance to see it.” The AI was developed by a company in Tel Aviv. Of course, sometimes, a sledgehammer rather than a laser is needed, in which case, he said, “We shame them on social media or write a longer-form article to educate people.” As an example of HonestReporting’s work, Hoffman cited an incident when NBC was talking about Palestinian terrorists detained by Israel. The network called them “captives.” Please see Hoffman, page 16
Please see Lee, page 16
Purim’s origins
p HonestReporting’s Executive Director Gil Hoffman spoke about “Israel and the Media” as part of a collaborative StandWithUs event. Photo provided by Julie Paris
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LOCAL Promoting empathy and respect
A conversation at Rodef Shalom Page 5
LIFE & CULTURE ‘Time and the River’ A historical poetry collection for the ages
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By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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The history and meaning behind the holiday
Rep. Summer Lee endorsed by new proPalestinian PAC .S. Rep. Summer Lee, who represents Squirrel Hill, has been endorsed by PAL PAC, a new political action committee “committed to supporting champions for Palestinian rights running for Congress,” according to an email distributed by the PAC. PAL PAC also endorses Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Delia Ramirez and Rep. Rashida Tlaib. The endorsement coincides with the withdrawal of support from JStreetPAC, a political action committee affiliated with J Street that was created in 2008 “to explicitly promote American leadership to resolve the IsraeliPalestinian conflict.” JStreetPac first endorsed Lee in her 2022 Democratic primary run for Congress against Steve Irwin, Jerry Dickinson, Jeff Woodard and William Parker, then against Republican Mike Doyle in the general election. A spokesperson from JStreetPAC was unavailable to speak with the Chronicle, citing preparations for J Street’s upcoming national convention. In a written response to the Chronicle, however, the JStreetPAC representative said that endorsements are a “2-way street” and said that “Congresswoman Lee did not seek J Street’s endorsement for the 2026 cycle.” The organization added that it continues to share a “fundamental belief ” with the representative that “both the Israeli and Palestinian people deserve a better future,” but noted that “our approach differs from hers in key ways.” JStreetPAC also said that it looks forward to working with Lee in the legislative session. JStreetPAC’s website lists seven criteria for candidates seeking its endorsement: • “Support for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and for U.S. security assistance to Israel that adheres to U.S. law.” • “Support for a diplomacy-first approach to foreign policy and for the rules-based international order that has prevailed since WWII.” • “Support for a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and neighboring Arab states that results in security for the State of Israel,
Bringing The Beatles to the Book of Esther HISTORY
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By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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il Hoffman is clear on what motivated him to join HonestReporting. “I got a chance to fight for Israel on the media battlefield,” he said, before noting, “I had no idea how serious it would become.” Before his time as executive director at HonestReporting, Hoffman worked for nearly a quarter century at The Jerusalem Post, where he covered politics. He also hosted the podcasts “Inside Israel Today” and “Voice of Israel.” It was a comfortable position for the journalist. “I really liked my job,” he said. “I watched history as it happened. I had my name on a chair in the front row of the gallery of Knesset. We got to know our presidents and prime ministers. I could have done it forever.” HonestReporting is a digital media company that, according to its website, “analyzes stories, articles, opinion pieces and images that appear in the media’s coverage of Israel, exposing and responding to inaccuracies or bias.” For Hoffman, the company is the modern version of how one used to respond to biased reporting. “We used to take out a typewriter and some Wite-Out, write a letter to the editor, put it in an envelope and then in a box and hope a pigeon would take it to a newsroom
Party Planning
Special section begins on p.8
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