New Zealand’s national radio broadcaster is conducting an internal investigation after evidence emerged that an employee had edited wire reporting on the Ukraine war to add Russia-friendly phrasing.
The state-funded RNZ, or Radio New Zealand, published at least four articles attributed to the Reuters wire service that had been edited to add pro-Kremlin phrasing.
The articles in question made a range of amendments: adding the word “coup” to describe the Maidan revolution; changing a description of Ukraine’s former “pro-Russian president” to read “pro-Russian elected government”; adding references to a “pro-western government” that had “suppressed ethnic Russians”; and on several occasions adding references to Russian concerns about “neo-Nazi elements” in Ukraine.
In one article, a paragraph was added reading: “The Kremlin also said its invasion was sparked by a failure to implement the Minsk agreement peace accords, designed to give Russia speakers autonomy and protection, and the rise of a neo-Nazi element in Ukraine since a coup ousted a Russian-friendly Ukrainian government in 2014.”
Another added that Russia launched its invasion “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”.
Ukraine says these claims are discredited Kremlin propaganda. Street demonstrations began in late 2013 in Kyiv after the then president, Viktor Yanukovych, dumped an association agreement with the EU and accepted a bailout from Moscow. The anti-corruption movement was peaceful and had widespread public support.
Yanukovych fled to Russia months later after his security forces shot dead more than 100 unarmed protesters. Putin responded by annexing Crimea and kickstarting a war in the east, using undercover agents. There is no evidence Russian speakers are “persecuted” in Ukraine, a bilingual country. The far right, meanwhile, does badly in elections and has no parliamentary seats.
An RNZ spokesperson, John Barr, said in a statement after the first article came to public attention that “RNZ is taking the issue extremely seriously and is investigating how the situation arose. There will be no comment until that investigation is completed and any appropriate action taken.”
Two articles known to have contained altered phrasing have had editorial notes appended, reading: “This story was edited inappropriately and has been corrected. RNZ is concerned and takes this matter extremely seriously. We are investigating and have taken appropriate action.”
At least two other altered articles viewed by the Guardian had not been amended.
Megan Whelan, the head of content at RNZ, said: “RNZ is aware of instances of inappropriate editing of several wire service stories relating to the war in Ukraine published on our website. An investigation is under way into the alleged conduct of one employee. The employee has been placed on leave while we look into these matters.”
She added: “We have corrected the stories and added an explanatory note to each article. We are auditing other articles to check whether there are further problems. We will release the outcome of the audit when it is completed.”
The RNZ chief executive, Paul Thompson, said the inappropriate editing of the stories to reflect a pro-Moscow perspective was deeply concerning and would be addressed accordingly.
RNZ is New Zealand’s independent public service multimedia organisation. According to its charter, it is to “provide comprehensive, independent, accurate, impartial and balanced” news, free of charge, to the New Zealand public.
Additional reporting by Luke Harding
