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Extinction Rebellion protesters blocked roads leading to two UK printing houses owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp on Friday night.
Members of the group said they would maintain the blockade throughout the night using vehicles and bamboo locks to try to prevent the company’s newspapers from reaching newsstands on Saturday.
The action took place at Broxbourne in Hertfordshire and Knowsley in Liverpool. Extinction Rebellion (XR) said about 80 activists participated.
Hertfordshire police said they were attending a protest at the Broxbourne site. “Our officers are committed to the group, which consists of around 100 people, and we are working to facilitate the rights of both protesters and those affected by their presence,” the force said in a statement.
The printers produce News Corp’s Sun, Times, Sun on Sunday and Sunday Times. They also print the Telegraph and Mail and Evening Standard titles.
Photographs posted on social media showed protesters lying in the street and displaying a banner that read: “Release the truth.”
The group was also blocking the News Corps press near Motherwell to disrupt distribution of the Scottish Sun.
Alanna Byrne of Extinction Rebellion said: “We will only address the climate and ecological emergency by breaking the traditional stalemate of opposition politics and coming together, despite our differences.
“If we are to solve this mess we are in, the mainstream media must stop taking advantage of the clickbait culture that swims in misinformation, which makes us hate our neighbors, suspect foreigners and vulnerable groups, and mobilize the nation to act. “
Gully Bujak, an XR activist, said: “The climate emergency is an existential threat to humanity. Instead of putting this on the front page every day as it deserves, many of our outlets ignore the issue and some are actively sowing the seeds of climate denial. “
Extinction Rebellion activists threw manure outside News Corp’s offices in Sydney and Brisbane on Friday to protest the media giant’s coverage of climate change.
A News Corp source defended the company’s stance on the weather, saying Saturday’s Sun ran an op-ed by David Attenborough on how to tackle the climate crisis. The company is also moving to eliminate all single-use plastic that is used to wrap its titles.
