Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Middle East

April 25, 2009

KBRM attacked in Press letters

The following letter was printed in The Press:

Why the secrecy?
Is Rodney Brooks (letters, April 24) the same Rodney Brooks, self-styled chairman of Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Mideast (KBRM), who wrote a Perspective piece, paid advertisements headed The Missing Truth (Press, March 5 and April 16)?
KBRM claims media reporting on the Middle East is unbalanced due to prejudice on the part of most editors. Yet, much of the material included in its own advertisements comes from Israeli sources and is highly selective in its application.
I am reminded of the adage: The first casualty of war is the truth.
According to its chair, KBRM is not a formal organisation. It has no formal meetings and no constitution. Any further information is, however, hard to come by. Membership numbers are secret, as is the funding of its advertisements despite its claim that they are paid for by members.

The KBRM chairman submitted the following letter to The Press in response:

What a shocking personal attack on me and Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Mideast (_________ , April 25) — full of inaccuracies and insinuations. To set the record straight: I am not a ‘self-styled’ chairman; I was elected.
Our advertisements were written and paid by members of KBRM.
KBRM does not claim there is prejudice on the part of most editors; we believe most editors are fair-minded.
Most material in our advertisements does not come from ‘Israeli sources’. The material is selective because it is facts not usually seen in newspapers. If _________ finds any errors (and he didn't cite any), he should drop us an email (Feedback, kbrm.org.nz) and they will be corrected.
KBRM has no constitution, but we have over 50 members from Whangarei to Invercargill and a 14 member Board who communicate by email.
Member names are not made public is because of the venom and hatred of the anti-Israel crowd, exemplified by _________ letter. (far worse examples may be seen on our website).
Rodney Brooks, Chairman
Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Mideast