Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called for the government to investigate Sky News Australia for spreading misinformation
Youtube suspended News Corp’s Sky News TV network for seven days for spreading misinformation. Now, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is calling for a investigation into the network.
“This is a commercial broadcaster so why isn’t the government regulator holding it to account?” she wrote.
“As Chair of the Senate Inquiry into Media Diversity, I will call the tech giant, Sky and ACMA to front the inquiry to investigate”.
“If the spread of misinformation is dangerous on the internet why is it on television?”
Youtube suspends Sky News
“Sky News Australia acknowledges YouTube’s right to enforce its policies and looks forward to continuing to publish its popular news and analysis content to its subscribers shortly,” Sky News said in a statement.
The 24-hour cable channel has grown its audience to 1.85 million YouTube subscribers. The channel has a strong focus on alternative opinions against Donald Trump, Joe Biden and coronavirus.
Controversial right wing talkshow host Alan Jones.
YouTube confirms the suspension
“We apply our policies equally for everyone and in accordance with these policies and our long-standing strikes system, removed videos from and issued a strike to Sky News Australia’s channel,” a YouTube spokesperson said.
The one-week suspension was issued on Thursday and came after a review of Sky News Australia’s content. Youtube has reportedly removed several videos from Sky News Australia.
Youbue believe they either denied the existence of Covid-19 or encouraged people to use hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin to treat the coronavirus, without providing countervailing context.
Sky News Australia hosts Nicholas Reece, Rita Panahi and Peta Credlin
“Sky News Australia has been temporarily suspended from posting on the Google-owned platform YouTube for publishing opinion content the tech giant disagrees with,” Houghton says.
“Among the videos deemed unpalatable for societal consumption were debates around whether masks were effective and whether lockdowns were justified when considering their adverse health outcomes.”
Sky News Australia Digital Editor Jack Houghton
“The stance taken by some commentators at this network was that masks are not effective in containing outbreaks, particularly when mandated outside in the fresh air. Some also took issue with the frequency and mechanisms of locking down Australians.
“Other commentators vehemently disagreed, and their views were also published.”
“The science is certainly not clear on either of these two points,” Houghton says.
Fox News coverage
In the US, Fox News has been criticised for its coverage of coronavirus. Now the hosts are pushing the vaccine.
Last week, a pair of Fox News hosts urged viewers of the network to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, dismissing conspiracy theories about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.
“Well, here’s the thing. And one of the CDC officials said yesterday, look, the pandemic right now is really just with people who have not been vaccinated. Ninety-nine percent of the people who died have not been vaccinated. What they are trying to do is make sure that all of the people who have not been vaccinated get vaccinated,” Steve Doocy said Monday on “Fox & Friends.”
The comments from the Fox News personalities come amid criticism the network has been hit with over controversial comments some hosts have made about local lockdown measures, face mask mandates, vaccine science and the pandemic as a whole.
Last week, The New York Times published a story detailing a litany comments made by prime-time hosts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingrahamthat the outlet said ran “at odds with the recommendations of health experts” relative to vaccines.
Actress Viola Davis has won her first Grammy Award, for her memoir audiobook, “Finding Me”.
The 57-year-old has now become the 18th person to achieve the coveted EGOT status – which involves winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award.
“It has just been such a journey,” Davis said in accepting the award. “I just EGOT!”
Davis is the fourth Black person, alongside Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend and Jennifer Hudson to claim the honour.
Next-gen news streamer TICKER NEWS is about to arrive on Fetch TV, bringing Australian audiences more live news and original programs.
TICKER will be available as a live network as part of the Fetch aggregation platform’s push into Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST).
TICKER CEO Ahron Young says:
“This is an incredible moment for the TICKER team and a great achievement. Since our launch in 2019, we’ve been focused on building a leading FAST news streaming network, and we are tremendously proud to be embraced by the team at FETCH.”
The addition to Fetch comes at an exciting time for the platform, which will soon become the new platform for Telstra TV.
Fetch TV currently has around 670,000 active subscribers, and Telstra TV has 800,000, cementing TICKER”s position as the next-generation news channel for Australians.
Accessible from the TV Guide, TICKER NEWS will be available to Fetch customers on their TV and on the Fetch Mobi App from March 1, 2023.
TICKER NEWS broadcasts globally around the clock, spearheaded by a team of award-winning journalists and international correspondents.
TICKER produces headline news and analysis with newsmakers at the top of each hour, with reports from correspondents Veronica Dudo in New York, Ryan Thompson in Paris and Adam Hancock Singapore.
In time for the launch on FETCH, TICKER NEWS will unveil a series of original programs, including Great Business Leaders and Billionaire Blowups, and a new program hosted by AFL legend Chris Judd.
Through TICKER NEWS Insights, host Mike Loder interviews global entrepreneurs and business leaders – giving them a unique platform to share their story.
TICKER CEO Ahron Young says:
“We are proud to call Australia home. Together with our distribution arrangement with Telstra TV and Flash News, TICKER has cemented its place as a fresh new voice for Australian audiences, who seek more fact-based news and less opinion.”