Thursday August 28, 2025
To: Rt Hon. Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister, Rt Hon. Winston Peters, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Hon. Paul Goldsmith, Minister for Media and Communications

We write as members of the Aotearoa media industry, to raise our collective voice and call on you to act decisively to protect journalists, media workers and the principle of a free press. These are principles to which New Zealand has always laid claim and which are now under grave threat in Gaza and the West Bank.

We are calling on you to:
1. Publicly reaffirm New Zealand’s commitment to the safety of journalists worldwide and make clear this protection applies in every conflict zone, including Gaza.

2. Reiterate the Media Freedom Coalition call for access for international press, ensuring safety, aid and crucial reporting are guaranteed; paired with New Zealand’s existing call for a ceasefire and safe humanitarian access corridors.

3. Back international action already underway, by publicly affirming support for ICC investigations into attacks on journalists anywhere in the world, and by advocating that the United Nations adopt an international convention for the safety of journalists and media workers so that States Parties meet their obligations under international law.

4. Formally confirm that New Zealand’s free press and human rights principles apply to Palestinian journalists and media workers, as they do to all others.

These measures are consistent with New Zealand’s values, our history of independent foreign policy, and the rules-based international order we have always claimed to champion, and for which our very future as a country is reliant upon. They do not require us to choose sides and they uphold the principle that a free press and those who embody it must never be targeted for doing their jobs.

Further, we ask you to urgently condemn the killings this month, of:
● Al Jazeera journalists Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal, along with freelance journalist Mohammad Al-Khalidi and freelance cameraman Momen Aliwa, who were targeted and killed in, or as a result of, an August 10 airstrike on their tent in Gaza City.
● Correspondents Hussam al-Masri, Hatem Khaled, Mariam Abu Daqqa, Mohammad Salama, Ahmed Abu Azi and Moaz Abu Taha, all killed in a strike on Nasser hospital in Khan Younis on August 25.
● Journalist and academic Hassan Douhan, killed in Khan Younis on August 25.

These recent deaths bring the number of Palestinian journalists and media workers killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, to at least 219 at the time of writing, according to the International Federation of Journalists. Many more are injured and missing. Many of those killed were clearly identified as members of the press. Some were killed alongside their families.

For comparison, around 69 journalists were killed during World War Two, and approximately 60 were killed during the entire Vietnam War.

From Malcolm Ross to Margaret Moth, Peter Arnett to Mike McRoberts, New Zealand has a proud history of war correspondents. The same international laws that have protected them are meant to protect all journalists, wherever they work. Today, those protections are being violated with impunity.

Our media colleagues are being murdered, and we have a duty to speak up.

As journalists, editors, producers, writers, documentary-makers, media workers and storytellers, we believe in the essential role of a free press. These killings are in violation of international rules-based order, including humanitarian law, and are intended to erase witnesses to the truth itself. These media professionals are doing their jobs under extremely challenging conditions, and are civilians worthy of protection under human rights laws.

This is not only a matter of professional solidarity, this is a matter of principle. Journalists are civilians. They are witnesses to history. They deserve the same protection anywhere in the world.

We urge you to lead, knowing you have the voices of Aotearoa’s storytellers and history-keepers standing with you.

He waka eke noa.

Sincerely, the undersigned:
Gemma Gracewood - filmmaker, writer, former current affairs producer
Lucy Lawless - actor, filmmaker
Pietra Brettkelly - documentary filmmaker
Alison Mau - founder
Sasha Borissenko - freelance journalist
Emily Writes - writer
James Hollings - Associate Professor of Journalism
Mereana Hond - journalist
Andrew Lumsden (Te Radar) - Documentarian
David Farrier - journalist
Kim Webby - director, producer, journalist
Dr David Robie - Pacific Media Watch
Rachel Antony - producer
Alex Reed - producer
Tara Pradhan - producer
Spencer Stoner - documentary producer
Claire Chitham - actor, producer, writer
Dan Salmon - director, writer
Todd Antony - photographer, director
Kura Righton
Natalie Malcon - producer
Brooke Howard-Smith - director
Courtney Mayhew - film and TV professional
Natasha Christie - screen executive, head of factual TV
Shimpal Lelisi
Tyler Hislop - film and TV communications
Nevak Rogers - TV executive, former journalist, documentary maker
Aidee Walker - director, writer, actor
George Fenwick - journalist
Samuel Robinson - producer
Felicity Monk - journalist
Kate Evans - freelance journalist
Rosella Hart - actor
Anke Richter - freelance journalist, author, foreign correspondent
Lanita Ririnui - creative company founder
Summer Wharekawa
Daniel Rutledge - NZME commercial editor
Kay Ellmers - documentary maker, Indigenous media advocate
Annabelle Lee-Mather - journalist
Naomi Arnold - freelance journalist
Michelle Duff - freelance journalist
Jody O’Callaghan - journalist
Leonie Hayden - writer
Josh Drummond - writer
Isobel Ewing - journalist
Kristin Hall - journalist
Jane Dowell - television researcher
Noelle McCarthy - writer, podcast maker
Becca Barnes
Karen Tay
Rachel McGregor
Kathy Wright
Rachel Goldsworthy - video editor
Jay Law - producer
Brodie Kane - independent broadcaster
Nia Robyn Phipps - producer, filmmaker
Carla Rotondo - podcast creator, celebrant
David Slack - writer
Conor Bowden - filmmaker, editor
Elisabeth Easther - journalist
Zelda Edwards - filmmaker, politician
Michele Edith A’Court - writer, entertainer
Rob Sarkies - director
Kate Rodger - journalist, broadcaster
Megan Vertelle - film and TV set decorator
Donna Brookbanks - actor, writer, comedian
Angela Jane Maurice - freelance producer, production manager
Tom Augustine - filmmaker, writer
Fasitua Amosa - actor, local politician
Jodie Rimmer - actor, writer
Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu - writer, director
Jonathan Dale Hendry - arts correspondent
Alexi O’Brien
Joy Reid - journalist
Greta Gregory - casting director
Bailey Poching - writer, actor
Sam Brooks - journalist
Amanda Jane Robinson - producer
Chelsie Preston Crayford - actor, filmmaker
Guy Montgomery
Anna Dean - marketing professional
Simon Grigg - publisher, writer, archivist
Glenis Giles - documentary producer
Megan Whelan
Sophie Cherry
Emily McDowell
Clare OLeary - documentary filmmaker
Nathan Hoturoa Gray - journalist, bestselling author, study abroad lecturer
Loren Prendiville
Jolisa Gracewood - writer, editor
Janet McAllister - writer, commentator
Andrew Paul Wood - freelance cultural journalist
Rebekah Lyell - journalist
Sheena Langguth - therapist and actor
Indira Neville
Philippa Jane Hall - television producer
Sara Beale - costume designer
Sarah Kinniburgh - producer
Miranda Rivers
Marilyn McFadyen - documentary producer
Stephanie Damm-Logan
Tessa Mitchell - director, actor, drama teacher
Abi King-Jones - filmmaker
Sarah-Luise Whatford - producer
Lyn Collie - writer, designer
Cynthia Morahan-Drennan - comms advisor, former broadcaster
Patricia Watson - management
Kim Georgine - film and TV producer, director
Tipene O’Brien - Iwi radio station manager
Stephen Papps
Louise May - national policy advisor (policy and communications)
Alix Whittaker - film producer
Jaunnie Lusiana ‘Ilolahia - producer, creative artist
Charlotte Hill - media content specialist
Erica Wood - journalist
Sapna Samant - writer, screen creative, GP
Jenny Nichols - writer
Meredith McGrath
Victoria Quade - community broadcaster

Cc:
Rt Hon. Chris Hipkins, Leader of the Labour Party
Reuben Davidson, Labour spokesperson for Broadcasting, Media and Creative Economy
Hon. Peeni Henare, Labour spokesperson for Foreign Affairs
Hon. Marama Davidson and Chloe Swarbrick, co-leaders of the Green Party
Teanau Tuiono, Green Party spokesperson for Foreign Affairs
Hūhana Lyndon, Green Party spokesperson for Media and Communications
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, co-leaders of Te Pāti Māori

Cc:
Dr Stephen Rainbow, Chief Human Rights Commissioner

Please direct return correspondence to the letter coordinator:
Gemma Gracewood
gemma@gracewood.co.nz
60 Oakley Avenue, Waterview, Auckland 1026
Ph +64 27445 6637