Lara Kroll is managing director of the Jewish Media Agency, the Manchester-based news outlet that is tipping the scales of Jewish and Israeli reportage.
What is the Jewish Media Agency (JMA)?
JMA is a website that provides an alternative to the negative news coverage of Israel, while also highlighting instances of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel prejudice in rival news organisations, as well as from politicians, governments, NGOs and charities. It does this by using social media to break stories.
When was the JMA founded and what led to your decision to setting it up?
It was founded by me in August 2014. I’d been living overseas and returned to Manchester to find that there was a lot of anti-Semitic, anti-Israel reporting across the media. It was the summer of Operation Protective Edge – the military operation launched by Israel as part of the Israel–Gaza conflict – and I could see that accounts were skewed and largely opinion-based.
From there, I met with representatives from the Jewish Leadership Council and BICOM to put my idea to them. I have 20 years’ experience in consumer PR and marketing and I decided to put my skills to use by collating Jewish news and centralising it in one, accessible place.
What happened next?
The JMA was created from that point on, with bases in the UK and Israel. Despite it receiving no financial backing, meaning that it is entirely self-funded, the organisation quickly established itself as the go-to source of on-the-ground reporting within both countries. It utilises social media, specifically Facebook and Twitter, to respond quickly to breaking and developing news stories and I believe this is what sets it apart, and what has made it a success. Approximately 250,000 people are reading articles across the site a week and this has spiked at 350,000 at times since the JMA launched.
Within a very short time, a global team was established. All staff are voluntary and work across editorial, marketing, research and development, and social media. They each have their own background and experiences, which means that each team member brings something different to the company.
However, this was a very steep learning curve for me. I felt like the underdog all of a sudden. I was used to selling in ideas, but now I had to learn about print and digital media from the opposite end of the playing field.
Since those early days, though, I think as a team we have established something special. Everyone at the JMA shares a passion for promoting Jewish news to an international audience, and to advocate for Israel while balancing the bias of other media outlets.
Who reads JMA?
While the news covered on the site covers Jewish and Israel-centric stories, as well as opinion pieces, I think it does appeal to the non-Jewish mass market. When it was first created, I just had the Jewish and Israeli audiences in mind. But it has grown so much since then, and with it, the content and tone has adapted and changed to become something for the Jewish audience and beyond. In fact, we now promote news other faiths, working closely with Christians United for Israel (CUFI) in addition to showcasing all Jewish events and pro-Israel rallies.
I am driven by culture and passionate about the faith, and I believe this drives the content we upload to the site and share across social media. Ultimately I think this content holds interest for people from all walks of life.
Do you have any plans to expand?
We’re close to launching a news app, which is in the final planning stages and will complement the existing outlets that the JMA currently uses. At the moment we’re a 24/7 agency that uploads over 20 articles a day. With the app in place, we’ll be able to push this further as we’ll be reaching an even broader audience.
Long term, my plan is to have satellite offices around the world. I want the JMA to be the Jewish Reuters and, even though it’s not even two years old yet, we’re off to a great start.
No matter how much we advance though, the focus remains the same: to ensure we’re countering the inaccurate, anti-Semitic reporting. This will always be at the heart of wheat the JMA is about.
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