Radio New Zealand (RNZ) Digital Editor Mick Hall has been suspended for what are called ‘inappropriate edits’ to foreign-sourced materials, mainly from Reuters. RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson said that “It’s so disappointing that this pro-Kremlin garbage has ended up in our stories” and promised to tighten control over staff.
Both truth and Mick Hall are likely to be casualties in the short term, but there is reasonable hope that both, in time, will be victorious. The battle is continuing.
The Yanukovych government was indeed elected, the Maidan revolution was violent, there was a referendum in Crimea in which the population voted overwhelming to return to Russia, and his description of the Donbas war is more informative and accurate than Reuter’s. The uncritical acceptance by NZ media and politicians of the description of these edits by RNZ management as ‘pro-Kremlin garbage’ is indicative of a deep malaise within New Zealand.
olddogthoughts 