Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp Found Using Paper Linked to Rainforest Destruction
The Australian NGO Markets for Change and Mighty Earth launched a campaign this week targeting News Corp Australia over its ties with rainforest destroyer Korindo. The organizations distributed parody newspapers of News Corp’s Australian newspapers, The Courier Mail (“The Courier Fail”) and The Australian (“The Not Australian”), outside News Corp offices in Sydney and Brisbane.
Investigations by Mighty Earth and Markets for Change found that The Australian and The Courier Mail are being printed in the Australian state of Queensland on newsprint produced by Aspex. Aspex is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Korean-Indonesian conglomerate Korindo, which Mighty Earth exposed for causing massive rainforest destruction for palm oil and timber products in Indonesia. Our groups informed News Corp of the connection in a letter and an in-person meeting, but so far no concrete action has been taken by the company.
The activists handed out parody newspapers dubbed the “Not Australian” and “The Courier Fail” to News Corp employees and passersby which, while satirical, expose the serious ways in which News Corp’s purchases of newsprint from Korindo helps finance the company’s rainforest destruction in Indonesia, and urge News Corp to switch to a responsible supplier. In fact, News Corp already uses a different supplier for the bulk of its papers, so a switch is entirely feasible. In addition, the newspaper company NZME, owner of the New Zealand Herald and other papers in New Zealand, recently made the switch away from Aspex and is now sourcing from alternative recycled newsprint suppliers.
Pressure from customers has convinced Korindo to enact a moratorium on new forest clearing, but it’s only temporary, and the forest remains at risk. If News Corp acts to sever ties with Korindo, it could force Korindo to stop the bulldozers once and for all. Click here to send a letter to News Corp.
You can get your own copies of the Not Australian and the Courier Fail here!
Here are some of our favorite photos from the actions in Sydney and Brisbane over the past week.
