Activists from the environmentalist movement Extinction Rebellion blocked printing presses of UK magnate Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp group, a dramatic move that disrupted newspaper distribution on Saturday morning and was widely condemned.
According to Extinction Rebellion (XR), several dozen of its activists blocked access to the printing works in Broxbourne, north London, and Knowsley, near Liverpool, from Friday to Saturday, from where News Corp titles such as the Sun, The Times, The Telegraph, as well as other newspapers, such as the Daily Mail.
Calling to “release the truth”, the protesters criticize the titles in question for not adequately reflecting the “climate and ecological emergency”, according to Extinction Rebellion, for whom the United Kingdom does not benefit from “a press free”.
Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was “completely unacceptable to seek to limit public access to information”. “A free press is vital for the government and other powerful institutions to be held to account on issues critical to the future of our country, such as the fight against climate change,” he tweeted.
According to the police, 72 people were arrested.
In the small Seveoaks store, in south-east London, of the merchant Dee Patel, 41, 120 copies of newspapers are missing. An absence that will cost him hundreds of pounds. “Customers keep calling,” “they are unhappy,” he told AFP. “This is not the right way to protest,” he breathes.
Same feeling with John Jones, a 23-year-old customer who came to buy stamps. “It’s crazy”, “I think they should do otherwise,” he said, referring to “social networks”.
One of the Labor opposition leaders, Emily Thornberry, disowned the action, which she said was “disturbing”, on Times Radio.
“More trucks”
According to police, around 100 protesters attached themselves to bamboo structures and to each other.
Confirming that two of the group’s printing plants have been disrupted, Newsprinters issued a “sincere apologies” to readers of The Sun, The Times, The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph, as well as The Financial Times who could not have found their regular newspapers on Saturday. morning due to delivery delays, according to a spokesperson. “Our teams are working to get newspapers delivered to retailers as soon as possible this morning,” she added, explaining that newspaper printing had moved to other locations.
The group denounced an “attack on the whole free press” which affects many workers, from printers to retailers.
“Dear newsagents, we are sorry for the disruption caused this morning,” Extinction Rebellion tweeted, “dear Mr. Murdoch, we are absolutely not sorry for continuing to disrupt your agenda this morning.”
XR also posted photos of its own tricks dropped on newsstand displays in place of missing headlines.
Affecting home deliveries, the movement has also affected “the elderly and vulnerable”, denounced the federation of independent retailers.
“We will only tackle the climate and ecological emergency by breaking the traditional deadlock of opposition policies and coming together, despite our differences,” said Alanna Byrne of Extinction Rebellion in a statement.
“If we are to break this deadlock, the mainstream media must stop profiting from the culture of ‘clickbait’ which is swimming in disinformation,” she added.
On Twitter, The Sun responded by referring to a column by naturalist David Attenborough in the tabloid, who explains that humanity is at a “crossroads” and that it is not too late to save the planet from global warming climate.
On Times Radio, Sunday Times editor Emma Tucker pointed out that the “incredible disruption” resulting from the blockage had the effect of sending “more trucks on more roads” to deliver the papers.
In the past week, XR has launched a series of actions in the United Kingdom which have given rise to more than 500 arrests and which must continue for several days.