Ilyas Patel against the New Zealand Herald

Ilyas Patel complained that the New Zealand Herald had not responded to his request that it publish his open letter urging the Government to provide aid to the Palestinian people.

The letter, which he wanted 1000 people to sign up to, asked the Government to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine, support efforts to promote dialogue and peaceful resolution to the conflict, advocate for the protection of human rights and dignity of the Palestinian people, and accept 1500 refugees from Palestine.

The Herald did not publish his letter or respond to his request. A similar request to Stuff also drew no response.

The Media Council does not believe there is sufficient basis for complaint.  As worthy as the cause may be, neither the NZ Herald nor Stuff were obliged to publish Mr Patel’s letter.

Media Council Principle (5) Columns, Blogs, Opinion and Letters, states letters for publication are the prerogative of editors.

Decision:  No grounds to proceed.