Rob Harris against The Press

Rob Harris complained there was a lack of balance in the selection of letters to the editor relating to the Gaza war. He said that during August 2025 The Press published 17 letters that were anti-Israel and three that were pro-Israel.

To underline his point, he noted the date of publication and the names of those who wrote the letters. He added that three of the letters were from the same couple. Mr Harris added that two letters were so misguided that he sent brief responses, but these were not published.

In her response, The Press editor said the paper’s policy was to publish a diversity of views in its letters page. It was not always possible to achieve a strict equal number of letters on a topic if the number arriving were skewed heavily. For instance, it was not unusual to receive more letters opposing a new cycleway than in support and the letters page may reflect this.

“In the case of Israel and the Gaza conflict, we endeavour to publish a balance of views, but this is not always possible. The majority of letter writers in recent months have been critical of Israel's actions, as has NZ's Prime Minister, and the International Criminal Court. However, in this long running war there have been many letters published which have criticising Hamas, in particular its actions on October 7, 2023, and expressing support for Israel.”

“I can assure you that there has been no policy of prioritising letters from those who criticise Israel, nor of suppressing support for Israel or criticism of Hamas. We continue to publish a fair selection of letters chosen from those submitted each day but cannot guarantee an equal balance of views every day, week or month, especially if the majority of writers fall on one side of the matter.”

She added that The Press prioritised local letters and would very rarely publish a letter written by someone outside its print circulation area. As Mr Harris lived in Masterton, he was encouraged to submit letters to The Post in Wellington.

Mr Harris took issue with this last point as he paid for his subscription to The Press and it took his money in exactly the same way as they would if he bought his copy at a newsstand.

Media Council Principle (5) Columns, Bogs, Opinion and Letters say in part that “letters for publication are the prerogative of editors, who are to be guided by fairness, balance and public interest.”

The Council accepts the editor’s point that the majority of letters it received were critical of Israel.  This can be seen as explaining why there were more letters published criticising Israel rather than supporting its position.

Mr Harris referred to three of the letters coming from John Minto and his wife Bronwen Summers. The Council does not accept the inference that this may necessarily be wrong or that the letters column was therefore unbalanced. Mr Minto is a well-known supporter for the Palestinian cause, and his wife is also an activist, and it would be wrong to treat them as effectively the same person.  Moreover, it is not unusual for people who are committed to a particular cause to speak out frequently in political debates.

The Council notes that editors have always had the prerogative to choose letters for publication and quality is no doubt relevant. The Council has seen no evidence that selection of letters was not guided by fairness, balance and public interest.

Decision: No Grounds to Proceed.