Murdoch channel pulled off air in NZ over its coverage of Christchurch massacre
Rupert Murdoch’s Sky News Australia has been bounced off the air by Sky New Zealand over its refusal to stop broadcasting graphic video from the shooter who killed 50 people at mosques in Christchurch on March 15. Sky New Zealand is independently owned.
This was despite calls from the police urging anyone broadcasting the disturbing footage to stop circulating it. “Police are aware there is extremely distressing footage relating to the incident in Christchurch circulating online,” the New Zealand police said in a statement. “We would strongly urge that the link not be shared. We are working to have any footage removed.”
On Saturday, the New Zealand broadcaster announced the decision to pull the channel off the air. “We stand in support of our fellow New Zealanders and have made the decision to remove Sky News Australia from our platform until we are confident that the distressing footage from yesterday’s events will not be shared,” it said in a now-deleted Tweet.
Soon after in a new Tweet, the broadcaster changed its message saying, “We stand in support of our fellow New Zealanders and are working with our colleagues at @SkyNewsAust to ensure coverage doesn’t compromise ongoing investigations in NZ. We made the decision on Friday with Sky News Australia to replace their live news with sport.”
You mean it’s just that easy? One horrible massacre and you can suddenly ban assault weapons nationwide? A Murdoch-owned media outlet repeatedly steps over the line and there are actual consequences?
What kind of pie-in-the-sky utopia is this “New Zealand” place? Personally, I don’t believe it exists. Think about it. Have you ever actually seen a kiwi? That’s a fake bird if I ever saw one.
Because how else do you explain such a little country doing such positive, commonsensical things when the greatest superpower in the history of the world can’t even find the energy to push Sean Hannity into a gym locker?
Go figure.
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