Demonstrators from climate advocacy group Extinction Rebellion say they dumped a pile of literal bullshit outside News Corp’s Sydney offices, in protest of what they say is figuratively bullshit reporting on climate change.
Streaming live on Facebook on Friday morning, an Extinction Rebellion representative showcased a big ol’ mound of brown parked outside the company’s Surry Hills office.
“We’re here to tell [News Corp head Rupert] Murdoch to stop spreading climate lies,” she said.
Protesters also rang some loud little bells and wore sandwich boards calling for the company to “free the truth”, while other demonstrators erected a banner above the building’s entrance.
The protest was joined by NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge, who said News Corp was ‘fighting against renewables, fighting against our future”.
“I think it’s time more politicians came out, called out the bullshit from News Corp, demand that they start telling the truth on climate,” he added.
Outside #newscorpse HQ this morning with extinction rebellion calling them to drop the bullshit on climate change (and quite a few others things too let’s be honest) pic.twitter.com/ctrVGs8g44
— David Shoebridge (@DavidShoebridge) September 3, 2020
NSW Police arrived on the scene after Shoebridge’s speech. On the live-stream, the Extinction Rebellion representative said officers had flagged the protest as a prohibited public gathering, given NSW’s ongoing coronavirus restrictions.
The footage came to an end after the arrival of a ute, which the streamer said was there to “clear up News Corp’s bullshit.”
News Corp has faced considerable criticism for its coverage of climate change.
The company has thrown money at commentator Andrew Bolt to call teen climate activist Greta Thunberg “deeply disturbed”, while its broad coverage of the 2019-2020 bushfire season led one disgruntled employee to condemn its “misinformation campaign”.
That was not the only criticism to come from inside the house, either. In January, James Murdoch, son of Rupert, railed against what he called “ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary.”
It’s worth noting this isn’t the first time Extinction Rebellion has tried the ‘dump stuff outside News Corp’ trick, with demonstrators giving it a nudge at the company’s Queensland offices in January.
