Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says he will not interfere with how RNZ handles the discovery of pro-Russian sentiment added into stories published online, but he hopes it is taken seriously. It comes after readers noticed the text of a Reuters story about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine published on RNZ had been altered.
It has since come to light that a staff member altered the text, and pro-Russian sentiment has been found on more than a dozen other stories. So far, 250 stories published by RNZ have been audited, with chief executive Paul Thompson saying thousands more would be checked “with a fine-tooth comb”.
Thompson has publicly apologised, adding the alteration was a “serious breach” of the organisation’s editorial standards and “really, really disappointing”. Fifteen of the altered articles were from the Reuters wire service, and one was from BBC. An independent review of the editing of online stories is being commissioned by RNZ.
In response to questions about RNZ’s investigation during Monday’s post-Cabinet media conference, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said as a minister, he intended to stay out of the decision-making.
Credit: radionz.co.nz
