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They say “He who pays the piper calls the tune” but let’s face it, long before the piper was paid out with a Covid grant to media, the New Zealand MSM was already well and truly providing supportive propaganda for this government and avoiding the difficult questions.
It’s been depressing beyond belief to watch the shameful capitulation by the MSM to the philosophy of the left, its total abandonment of balanced reporting and lack of incisive, investigative journalism to expose broken promises and in some cases, outright lies.
What used to be acknowledged as one of the best and most reliable independent, balanced news sources in this country has become a tabloid of mediocrity. Just last week The Herald announced with some celebration, an increase in subscribers. How and why is beyond me and at this stage I’ve not delved into the detail, but why anybody would pay for it really is quite beyond me.
The acquiescence to “click-bait” is very sad but was probably inevitable. The cheap, sensational headlines to catch attention one could probably live with, without necessarily agreeing with them. However, the ever increasing factual errors, the distortion and misrepresentation of facts, the blind, unchallenged publication of stories from other sources and often the exaggeration of those stories (when it fits the narrative) is just appallingly bad journalism.
Covid-19 coronavirus: Lord of the Rings actress stuck in New Zealand praises Jacinda Ardern’s handling of pandemic
Firstly, actors and actresses should (quote of the week) “STICK TO THEIR KNITTING”. Who in their right minds cares what an “actress” thinks about anything other than acting or her own personal life if even those?
But not only does this headline misrepresent the story, it also misrepresents the actress as the Herald continues:
A ‘Lord of the Rings’ actress who has been stuck in New Zealand ever since lockdown started in March has praised Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even though the actress is desperate to return home, she praised Ardern’s efforts on handling the Covid-19 crisis. -“[The county] (sic) went into lockdown so quickly … which has been quite effective,” she said.
This is a beat up of a story published in the UK’s Daily Mail under a completely different headline. It is not about an actress praising Jacinda Ardern although she does mention her. The story is about Welsh actress Morfydd Clark being stuck in New Zealand during the crisis and looking at probably being here for some time.
Here’s the Daily Mail headline:
BAZ BAMIGBOYE: Gollum but not forgotten! Team behind TV’s Lord Of The Rings is stuck in New Zealand
Baz Bamigboye is described by Wikipedia as a “British Gossip Columnist and he writes in this story about the actress being stuck in New Zealand and about her career. And her praise for Ms Ardern’s handling of the pandemic?
Out of 13 paragraphs in the original story, this is the sum total of praise for Ms Ardern:
The actress praised New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, noting that the country ‘went into lockdown so quickly . . . which has been quite effective
That’s it. Not even an actual quote.
Worthy of the headline and sycophancy of The Herald?
Is there any main stream media left in this country that tells the truth about anything?
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