Madeline Chapman Lays out exactly what FACT Aotearoa was thinking when we contacted Newsroom about Melanie Reid's uncritical coverage of Voice for Freedom.
FACT Aotearoa complained to Newsroom about a Voices for Freedom ‘puff piece’ written by investigative journalist Melanie Reid. The Spinoff did a story too, saying it was shocking to see a report under the “Newsroom Investigates” banner providing a high-profile platform to Voices For Freedom. Madeleine Chapman, Editor of Spinoff, explained it allowed their claims about the protest and their own organisation to go largely unchecked.
Read Madeline Chapman’s excellent article.
Perhaps Voices For Freedom realised that their decision to openly employ, feature and promote people associated with a more radical right-wing agenda than they had previously admitted to was a strategic error. By removing the archive as well as live links, they may be hoping their audience will forget the attempts to radicalise them, and return to the fold.
The Royal Commission into COVID19 lessons learned has called for submissions and they’re due March 24th. You can submit too, and we think you should: it’s really important for the commission to hear from you.
FACT Aotearoa is calling on Government Ministers including the Deputy Prime Minister who have appeared on Reality Check Radio to boycott the station.