[Image © CUNY Academic Commons]
The political, social and economic landscape in New Zealand today is almost unrecognisable from that of two years ago, to anyone who cares to look with an open mind. But how much of the reshaping of our country is really due to a virus and how much is due to the personalities of those we put in charge?
This is the second part of the story from The BFD.
Ardern’s Covid policies have enjoyed the uncritical support of NZ legacy media. Large cash grants to mainstream media outlets have cemented their support. This has been ably propped up by the quaint Ardern directive that the government should be your only source of information, all other sources are mere grains of salt. But where does the government get its information from?
We are told that Ardern begins her day with a cup of coffee and a phone call with Helen Clark (a former NZ PM and Ardern mentor). Clark is recognised as a vocal supporter of the WHO and an advocate of tighter controls on social media content. My own experience is illustrative. In December, I put up a ten-minute video of slides entitled 2021 Covid Stats For Kiwis. It solely contained official NZ government statistics about the pandemic and our economy. It registered 20,000 views in a week but was then taken down by YouTube on the advice of the Ministry of Health.
From The BFD