spinofflive
Image: Bianca Cross
Image: Bianca Cross

PoliticsNovember 16, 2022

National MP advertising on What’s On Invers, the ‘anti-vax’ website blacklisted by RNZ

Image: Bianca Cross
Image: Bianca Cross

Prominent adverts for National MP Penny Simmonds appear on What’s On Invers, a self-described news website that lost a content sharing deal with RNZ over its stance on Covid-19 vaccines. Stewart Sowman-Lund reports. 

National’s MP for Invercargill is continuing to run prominent adverts on a local independent news website accused of sharing Covid-19 and vaccine misinformation. That’s despite the website, What’s On Invers, being forced to end its content sharing arrangement with national broadcaster RNZ following “concern” over its views regarding the pandemic.

What’s On Invers is a Southland-based Facebook page and self-described news outlet launched almost 10 years ago and now followed by close to 40,000 people. In recent years, it has expanded to include an associated community directory and news website of the same name. 

Founded by Mike Sanford, an unsuccessful licensing trust candidate in the recent local elections, What’s On Invers claims to have a bigger readership than mainstream media outlets in the region, such as the Southland Times. 

But concerns were raised to The Spinoff earlier this year about content described by critics as “unethical” and “anti-vax” being shared by the website. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, articles shared by What’s On Invers appeared to cast doubt on the efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine and regularly sympathised with conspiracy theory groups like Voices for Freedom.

Within several articles published by What’s On Invers, ads for local MP Simmonds can be found running along the top or in the body of the text. While many of the articles boasting ads for Simmonds are innocuous, some blur the line between news and misinformation. The Spinoff found an ad running atop an article about a large Voices for Freedom rally in 2021 that described an “us and them mentality” driven by the government around vaccines. Another ad for Simmonds appeared on a story that quoted an anti-mandate doctor promoting Ivermectin as “one of the most safest drugs in the world”. And one also appeared on an article that quoted a protest group comparing Covid-19 to the flu. At the time of publication, ads for Simmonds were still showing up on the site as part of a rotation alongside promotions for several local businesses.

Some examples of articles displaying Penny Simmonds ads

As well as advertising, Simmonds has used What’s On Invers to publish opinion columns in her capacity as local MP. The most recent of these was shared by the platform in September this year – months after What’s On Invers had started to promote fringe views around the pandemic. Topics canvassed in her columns appear generally in-line with National Party talking points: the cost of living crisis, the amalgamation of polytechnics and the centralisation of the health system. Simmonds has sent out press releases to the media on similar topics.

When approached by The Spinoff, Simmonds chose not to respond to questions regarding her relationship with What’s On Invers. “No comment at this time,” she said. Follow-up emails to Simmonds and her press secretary went unanswered, as did requests for comment to the office of National Party leader Christopher Luxon.

‘Like a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle, each member is vital to the whole picture. Join today.’
Calum Henderson
— Production editor

While the views promoted by What’s On Invers may not be enough to dissuade Simmonds from advertising, they were sufficient to see a content sharing deal with RNZ come to an end over a year ago.

The Spinoff can reveal that RNZ cut ties with What’s On Invers specifically over its coverage of Covid-19. Until October last year, What’s On Invers was one of about 60 outlets that had official republication deals with the state-owned broadcaster. That meant it was able to use RNZ-produced content on its website.

However, emails released to The Spinoff under the Official Information Act reveal the precise reason why RNZ decided to end that deal.

RNZ was contacted in October last year by a reader concerned with “anti-vax [and] anti-mask misinformation” being promulgated by What’s On Invers. The reader questioned whether the content could be “putting the health and safety of uninformed readers at risk” and asked whether RNZ was aware that its content was being republished “by arrangement” on the website. 

This email made its way to the head of news at RNZ, Richard Sutherland, who suggested an immediate end to the republication deal. “I vote we pull their agreement,” he wrote. “We don’t want to be associated with this kind of bs do we?” Megan Whelan, RNZ’s head of digital content, agreed. “I concur.”

Whelan then contacted What’s On Invers, demanding the outlet cease publication of any RNZ content. “Radio New Zealand’s attention has been drawn to some… recent activity on your site, most particularly the nature of your coverage of matters relating to Covid-19,” the October 2021 email stated. “There is acknowledgement that you are fully entitled to your view on such matters. However, our concern extends to the Non-assocation [sic] requirements of our licence agreement and that RNZ content re Covid matters might be associated with the stance supported by your coverage from a variety of other sources.”

The email continued: “Although there is no enduring formal agreement in place, RNZ wants to end the content- sharing arrangement with What’s On Invers.”

A copy of an email provided under the OIA

Earlier reporting by The Spinoff revealed that What’s On Invers continued to republish content from RNZ after the end of the agreement, claiming it still had permission. RNZ was unaware of this until The Spinoff’s reporting and a spokesperson confirmed the broadcaster would be contacting the site’s administrator. At the time, the spokesperson wouldn’t disclose why exactly RNZ had chosen to end the content sharing arrangement.

This wasn’t the first time that RNZ had raised concerns with What’s On Invers about the use of republished content. Other emails seen by The Spinoff show that in 2020 What’s On Invers was ordered to amend an “unprofessional” headline it had used on RNZ content about the local acquisition of media company Stuff for $1. What’s On Invers referred to Stuff as “Stuff’d” in the headline, a derogatory title occasionally used by critics of the mainstream media. 

“There may be an attempt to argue that a headline is authored separately from a story and should be considered in that light,” an RNZ representative informed What’s On Invers at the time. “We do not accept that and know that many readers will see headlines and related stories as coming from the same source.”

Sanford, in response, told RNZ: “This will not happen again.”

It appears that What’s On Invers has not republished any RNZ content since The Spinoff’s original report in October this year, however articles published after the supposed end of the content sharing arrangement the year prior remain visible on the site.

Update: Following publication, The Spinoff received a written statement from a spokesperson for National Party leader Christopher Luxon. “Placing advertisements or opinion pieces with any publication does not imply agreement with everything it says.” Read more here.

Know more? Contact stewart@thespinoff.co.nz

Keep going!
Image: Getty / Tina Tiller
Image: Getty / Tina Tiller

OPINIONPoliticsNovember 15, 2022

Climate change is a harsh reality in Sāmoa – and the world’s leaders need to face it

Image: Getty / Tina Tiller
Image: Getty / Tina Tiller

With land disappearing, dead coral on the beach and fewer fish in the sea, Sāmoa and its Pacific neighbours should be high on the agenda this month as world leaders gather at the Cop27 conference. 

The Pacific Islands forum leaders made a declaration at their July 2022 meeting that the Pacific is facing a climate emergency threatening ecosystems as well as people’s livelihoods, security and wellbeing. They have called it the single greatest threat facing the Blue Pacific – and rightly so. This is not just evidenced in the latest science but also in the daily lived realities of people in Pacific communities.

In Sāmoa, the impacts of climate change are here now. Many of the coastal villages are shrinking at a fast pace due to sea level rise, a phenomenon that villagers had not anticipated would happen in their lifetime. More and more families have moved inland to escape not only the sea, but the sea spray which damages property including houses – iron roofing and window frames that once needed replacing every five years, now require replacing due to rusting at least once a year. And moving inland means starting all over again, rebuilding homes, replanting crops and adapting to a different kind of terrain. The swift reaction is a demonstration of adaption and resilience in the face of climate adversity, but the economic loss and damage to their livelihoods is major.

And there’s another more important if invisible cost. When people move away from their coastal lands, they lose a sense of belonging and identity. For instance, the village of Neiafu has always been a coastal village – in fact the area is known as the aai (village headquarters or centre) where traditional and cultural meeting houses are located and village meetings take place. With an increased number of families relocating, village chiefs are concerned about the loss of culture and heritage and a fragmentation of the village, resulting in difficulty maintaining peace , harmony and a sense of collectivism – all integral aspects of Sāmoan culture. But such losses are not recognised or documented by the UNFCCC (United Nations framework convention on climate change) as “loss and damage”.



Farmers and fishermen look to their elders

Farmers are concerned about their crop productivity due to droughts and are constantly trialling crops that may grow well without the need for much water. Such trials include the introduction of fertilisers and pesticides. While there are some short-term benefits to these, there’s a negative impact on the fertility of the land and its natural nutrients. Farmers are also dealing with the introduction  of new pests and many are returning to their elders’ traditional knowledge for inspiration.

Many Sāmoan villagers depend on fish for survival, but fishermen lament that in certain spots where fish were once abundant they’re now scarce; fishermen are forced further out into the ocean in search for food.  This comes with increased risks of drownings, with such tragedies affecting many families in the village of Neiafu.

Samoan fishermen are entering more dangerous waters in search of fish. (Photo: Getty Images)

Fishermen have also reflected on changes on the reef. Fish and shellfish abundant there 20 years ago are disappearing, and corals are bleaching, damaged and dying, washing up on the beach with high tide. Like the farmers, fishermen are also revisiting traditional knowledge, creating fish traps, group fishing and looking into the possibility of sharing reefs with neighbouring villages where the corals are less damaged.

Looking beyond Sāmoa

Many neighbouring Pacific countries will be sharing similar experiences to those of Sāmoa, if not worse. And like Sāmoa, they live with an understanding of the interconnections between the ocean, sky, lands and people, knowing that a balance between all these elements must be maintained and protected.

Adaptation and resilience are not new concepts to the region. Many Pacific Islands have experienced climate crisis – cyclones, flooding, landslides – in the past and they have relied on their own strength in the face of those calamities. But what these Pacific nations don’t have is the power and influence to get leaders of developed countries to commit to what is necessary for the survival of their region. They don’t have enough climate financing to address the loss and damage, let alone create and implement scientific and technological resources that could help protect their environment and its natural resources – food and water security for example.

The inter-government negotiations at the climate change conference Cop27, currently being held in Egypt, are essential for the Pacific region – as well as the rest of the world. Although the Pacific nations and Small Island Developing States are currently bearing the brunt of the developed countries’ greed and hunger for power, it does not mean those countries won’t see and feel it themselves in the near future. Climate crisis is inevitable – Hurricane Ian in Florida was the most recent reminder of that. It is urgent that governments increase their commitments to reduce emissions at Cop27. And importantly, there need to be legal processes to ensure government leaders are held accountable for their actions and inactions.

It is equally vital for leaders of developed countries to agree to doubling their collective provisions for climate financing to assist with adaptation and mitigation in the Pacific and Small Island Developing States, and the legality of such commitments should also be prioritised to ensure non-provision is penalised.

‘Hutt Valley, Kāpiti, down to the south coast. Our Wellington coverage is powered by members.’
Joel MacManus
— Wellington editor

The Pacific Ocean Climate Crisis Assessment (POCCA) research is part of a ground-breaking Pacific-led, multi-disciplinary project investigating all aspects of climate across 16 Pacific countries, a partnership between the University of Canterbury and the University of the South Pacific, funded by the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

But wait there's more!