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Climate activists Extinction Rebellion (XR) have blocked roads to several newspaper printers in England and Scotland in an effort to prevent them from distributing their newspapers.
The group They claim that some 80 protesters have blocked access to two print jobs run by News UK, owners of The Sun, The Times and The Telegraph, in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire and Knowsley near Liverpool.
The Daily Mail and the London Evening Standard are also printed in these places.
The group aims to stop the distribution of articles
It comes after several days of interruption in London by the group, in an attempt to highlight the climate crisis.
The protesters also gathered at another site in Motherwell, but Scottish police say they have been moved without arrests.
XR claims that the “mainstream media” are controlled by a small number of people, and that news corporations are guilty of “constant manipulation of the truth to suit their own personal and political agendas.”
The Hertfordshire group has erected bamboo structures when approaching the printers, preventing access to the site.
A Sky News producer at the site said there were lines of vans lined up along the road to the site, waiting to pick up newspapers.
Hertfordshire Police said: “We are currently on Great Eastern Road, Waltham Cross, following reports of a protest.
Van access to the site has been blocked
Deliveries may be at risk as a result of the protest.
“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.”
Sky News has contacted News Corp and Merseyside Police for comment.
Extinction Rebellion activist Gully Bujak, 27, said: “You cannot have a functioning democracy with a mainstream media ruled by a small sect not representative of society, who is in bed with politicians and the fossil fuel industry.
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“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 media ignore the issue and some are actively sowing seeds of climate denial.
“They thrive on polarization and division. They sow hatred to distract us, actively benefiting from this division.”
“To these newspapers we say this: You will no longer come between us. For one night we are going to filter the lies and regain power. For one night we are going to show the world that you are vulnerable, just like us.”
