Thursday, January 15, 2015

AWKWARD. Sky News self-censors the news, cuts off invited guest in media freedom interview for trying to show the new Charlie Hebdo cover.


Sky News (DStv 402) on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform revealed its awkward self-censoring taking place at the British 24-hour TV news channel when it bisarrely and ironically cut off a guest on Wednesday evening invited to talk about media and press freedom when she tried to hold up and show, to illustrate, the latest Charlie Hebdo cover.

Sky News has become one of the media organisations deliberately choosing not to give viewers the full picture in the Charlie Hebdo cartoon furore, although many other TV channel and TV news channels are.



Awkwardly, the guest Caroline Fourest, a former Charlie Hebdo contributor, was invited by Sky News to talk about press and media freedom - who Sky News then dramatically and ironically cut off.

"I'm very sad that journalists in the UK do not support us; that journalists in the UK betray what journalism is about. By thinking that people are not grown enough to decide for themselves if a drawing is offending or not, because you're not even showing it," said Caroline Fourest.

"It's crazy that in the UK you can't show even a drawing as that ..." she said and wanted to hold up the Charlie Hebdo cover when Sky News' amateur Dharshini David awkwardly and extremely unprofessionally cut her off.

"We've chosen not to show that cover, so we'd appreciate Caroline not showing that," said a shocked Dharshini David on Sky News Tonight, visibly too scared to even have a conversation about the news of the news.

"I do apologize  for any of our viewers who may have been offended by that, as you know here at Sky News we've taken an editorial decision not to feature the cover of Charlie Hebdo".