Sunday, September 06, 2020

UPDATED
UK charges 26 over printing works climate protest

Issued on: 06/09/2020 -

The protests were part of 10 days of action by the group Extinction Rebellion and caused delays to deliveries of newspapers including The Times and its tabloid stablemate The Sun Tom OLDHAM Extinction Rebellion/AFP

London (AFP)

Twenty-six people have been charged with aggravated trespass after a climate protest at a printing works in northwest England disrupted the delivery of several newspapers, police said on Sunday.

Merseyside Police said the men and women, aged between 19 and 60, were released on bail and ordered to appear in court in Liverpool and St Helens between January 8 and 13 next year.

Fifty other people were in custody after a similar protest at another print site at Waltham Cross, north of London, Hertfordshire Police said.


The protests were part of 10 days of action by the group Extinction Rebellion and caused delays to deliveries of newspapers including The Times and its tabloid stablemate The Sun.

Activists blocked roads outside the sites using vehicles and attached themselves to obstacles to expose what they said was the "failure of these corporations to accurately report on the climate and ecological emergency".

The Times and The Sun are owned by News Corp, which is controlled by media magnate Rupert Murdoch, who has been accused of denying climate change.

Extinction Rebellion accused News Corp and right-wing publications such as the Daily Mail and the London Evening Standard of pushing "personal and political agendas".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is a former newspaper reporter and columnist, led condemnation of the action, calling it an attempt to stifle freedom of speech.

"A free press is vital in holding the government and other powerful institutions to account on issues critical for the future of our country, including the fight against climate change," he said.

Britain's domestic Press Association news agency quoted unnamed government sources as saying interior minister Priti Patel wanted to review how Extinction Rebellion was classified.

The review could see it treated as an organised crime group given the disruption caused by its activities.

© 2020 AFP

Extinction Rebellion climate protesters arrested after blocking printing of Murdoch-owned British newspapers

A FREE PRESS BELONGS TO THOSE THAT OWN ONE
A J LIEBLING

By Mia Alberti, CNN Business

Updated 1556 GMT (2356 HKT) September 5, 2020


Members of Extinction Rebellion blocked printworks responsible for printing papers such as The Sun, The Times and The Daily Mail.

London (CNN)UK police have arrested 13 members of the Extinction Rebellion group after climate change protesters blocked the printing presses of several Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp newspapers on Friday and Saturday, disrupting their distribution.
"The protest is causing major disruption to local businesses. At this time, 13 people have been arrested in connection with the incident, and we anticipate more arrests will be made," Hertfordshire police said in a statement.
Member of Extinction Rebellion, also known as XR, blocked printworks responsible for printing papers such as News Corp's The Sun and The Times, along with The Daily Mail, published by Associated Newspapers in Broxbourne, greater London and in Liverpool.


Protesters used bamboo lock-ons to block the road outside printing works at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire.

"The groups are using disruption to expose the failure of these corporations to accurately report on the climate and ecological emergency, and their consistent manipulation of the truth to suit their own personal and political agendas," XR said in a statement.
XR said its activists targeted the newspapers owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch because "the right-wing media is a barrier to the truth, failing to reflect the scale and urgency" of the climate crisis.

James Murdoch resigns from News Corp, citing 'disagreements over certain editorial content'

"They distract us with hate and maintain their own power and wealth, profiting from our division. We can't move forward until this barrier falls," the group added.
The Times newspapers said on Twitter: "We apologize to readers who may be unable to buy their usual newspaper this morning. Overnight printing of The Times was disrupted by Extinction Rebellion alongside other newspapers. We are working to get newspapers delivered to retailers as soon as possible."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also criticized the protests, writing on Twitter: "A free press is vital in holding the government and other powerful institutions to account on issues critical for the future of our country, including the fight against climate change.
"It is completely unacceptable to seek to limit the public's access to news in this way," he said.
Murdoch's son, James, this year lashed out against his father's sprawling media empire for how it covers the climate crisis. In comments made to The Daily Beast, a spokesperson for James Murdoch and his wife spoke of the couple's "frustration" with News Corp coverage of climate.
James Murdoch later broke from the family business in July and said he was exiting the company over "disagreements over certain editorial content published" by its news outlets and "certain other strategic decisions."
Murdoch's News Corp owns a large chunk of Australia's media and has been criticized for coverage that suggested recent wildfires were no worse than they'd been in the past or that they are caused by arsonists, not climate change.
The News Corp umbrella includes papers such as The Wall Street Journal and New York Post, a raft of newspapers in the United Kingdom and Australia, and the book publisher HarperCollins
Extinction Rebellion protests at printing presses stop millions of newspapers being delivered

Demonstrators blocked access to two print works in Hertfordshire and Merseyside, causing delays to newspaper deliveries.


Saturday 5 September 2020 


Extinction Rebellion protests outside news printers

More than 70 people have been arrested following protests by climate activists from Extinction Rebellion (XR) outside two printing presses - which prevented the distribution of millions of national newspapers.

Demonstrators blocked access to two print works at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, and Knowsley, near Liverpool, using vehicles and bamboo structures overnight into Saturday morning.


Seventy-two people were arrested across the two locations, police said, and delivery lorries were delayed from leaving.

Image:The move left newspaper stands devoid of some papers on Saturday morning

Image:Police and firefighters dealt with the protest outside the Newsprinters works in Hertfordshire

The Newsprinters presses targeted print the Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp's titles including The Sun, The Times, The Sun On Sunday and The Sunday Times.

The Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail, Mail On Sunday, London Evening Standard and some Guardian supplements are also printed or processed at the sites. Both demonstrations ended around 11am.


The protests were condemned by the prime minister as "completely unacceptable".


Boris Johnson tweeted: "A free press is vital in holding the government and other powerful institutions to account on issues critical for the future of our country, including the fight against climate change.

"It is completely unacceptable to seek to limit the public's access to news in this way."

A statement from News UK, which publishes the Murdoch titles, said: "Total print run last night for the impacted print plants was due to be just under three million.

"No newspapers left those sites and other printers around the country printed and distributed as much as they could take. This happened late, hence the late deliveries to retailers."

XR claim the "mainstream media" is controlled by a small number of people, and that news corporations are guilty of "consistent manipulation of the truth to suit their own personal and political agendas".

  
Image:The Newsprinters presses print titles including The Sun, The Times, The Sun On Sunday and The Sunday Times. Pic: Extinction Rebellion

Image:Vans were blocked from accessing the site

In central London, other members of the group completed a protest walk from Brighton to the capital with their boat "Lightship Greta", named after teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

After days of demonstrations to highlight global warming, the Metropolitan Police seized the boat in Kennington, south London, and said they had arrested "more than 600 people" in connection with the protests.


Greta being dismantled😶, we are still just north of Kennington Park.#extinctionrebellion #wewanttolive #LightshipGreta pic.twitter.com/FKxZhtQKhh— Lightship Greta (@LightshipGreta) September 5, 2020

Twenty people have also been reported for breaking coronavirus regulations, which now incurs a fine of £10,000, a force spokesman said.

The protests targeting the printing presses meant thousands of people who would normally get The Sun were unable to read an interview with Sir David Attenborough in which he explains why he supports Extinction Rebellion and what Sun readers can do to help reduce climate change.

The Telegraph says it has made its website free this weekend after the protests.

A statement said: "Production of The Telegraph titles was severely affected.

"Following the assault on the free press, we have made the decision that all the Telegraph journalism published this weekend is now free to read on our website until Monday morning and removed the paywall until then."

XR protester defends blocking print sites

The Times apologised to readers in a tweet, saying this morning that it was "working to get newspapers delivered to retailers as soon as possible".

Newsprinters said it moved the work elsewhere but apologised to newspaper readers affected by the delay.

A spokesperson said: "Overnight printing at two Newsprinters plants was disrupted by activity by Extinction Rebellion. Thanks to other industry partners, printing was transferred to other sites.

"This attack on all of the free press impacted many workers going about their jobs. Overnight print workers, delivery drivers, wholesale workers and retail newsagents have faced delays and financial penalty."

Meanwhile, Labour MP and former shadow cabinet member Dawn Butler initially tweeted in support of the protesters, but later deleted the post.

Her comment - "Bravo #Extinction Rebellion. Excellent work" - was criticised by other Twitter users, with Labour ex-cabinet minister Andrew Adonis saying: "I utterly disagree with this."

The group in Hertfordshire put up bamboo structures around the entrance, preventing access to the printing site.

I utterly disagree with this pic.twitter.com/GUdFDNlOmm— Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) September 5, 2020

A Sky News producer at the scene said there were lines of vans queued up along the road to the site, waiting to collect newspapers.

Hertfordshire Police said: "Our officers are engaging with the group, which consists of around 100 people, and we are working to facilitate the rights of both the protesters and those affected by their presence."

In a tweet, the force said it had made 42 arrests.

Merseyside Police said 30 arrests had been made there. "Two vans and a boat used to cause obstruction" were removed, a spokesman added.


Extinction Rebellion activist Gully Bujak, 27, said: "You cannot have a functioning democracy with a mainstream media that is ruled by a small, unrepresentative sect of society, who are in bed with politicians and the fossil fuel industry.

"The climate emergency is an existential threat to humanity. Instead of publishing this on the front page every day as it deserves, much of our media ignores the issue and some actively sow seeds of climate denial.

"They thrive off of polarisation and division. They sow hatred in order to distract us, actively profiting from this division.

"To these papers we say this: you will not come between us anymore. For a night we're going to filter out the lies and take the power back. For a night we're going to show the world that you are vulnerable, just like us."

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