In New Zealand, an employee of the national television and radio company RNZ added pro-Russian theses to journalistic materials about Ukraine. He was sent on leave and the incident was investigated.
The Guardian writes about it.
Last week it became known that an employee of New Zealandʼs national broadcaster had edited a number of articles attributed to Reuters and the BBC. Russian propaganda was found there.
In particular, in the news from Reuters, the statements of the Russian government appeared without an additional reference to the source. The article also called the Revolution of Dignity a "coup" and wrote about a "pro-western government" that "suppressed ethnic Russians." The materials also emphasized Russiaʼs concern about "neo-Nazi elements" in Ukraine.
Some articles had entire paragraphs saying that Russia started the war because "claiming that a US-backed coup in 2014 with the help of neo-Nazis had created a threat to its borders and had ignited a civil war that saw Russian-speaking minorities persecuted."
RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson called the edits "pro-Kremlin garbage" and said news services would "search through thousands of articles with a fine-toothed comb".
According to him, about 250 materials have already been reviewed. Journalists corrected sixteen articles about Ukraine and added an editorial note to them. New Zealandʼs Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson called the incident a “major issue” and “unprecedented for RNZ”.
New Zealandʼs national broadcaster has announced a major review of its editing processes and has promised to make its findings public.
- Broadcaster New Zealand (RNZ) is the national radio station and news website. The media is financed by the state, but it has editorial independence. RNZ has a big influence in New Zealand — as well as being one of the countryʼs biggest newsrooms, it has deals with all the major commercial media organizations in New Zealand, meaning RNZ articles are regularly reprinted by news sites and newspapers across the country.