ENVIRONMENTALISTS in New York City (NYC) marked Earth Day this morning by targeting major US corporate media entities that are “failing to cover the climate emergency with the frequency it deserves.”

Activists from Extinction Rebellion NYC blockaded the plant where the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today are printed by chaining themselves together, erecting banners and parking a boat at its entrance.

Extinction Rebellion NYC said the purpose of today’s action was to draw the public’s attention to how mass media corporations like Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, the New York Times Company and Gannet have failed to cover the ecological crisis.

“Extinction Rebellion stands behind the right to free speech and a free press, and views the breaking of certain concrete, mundane laws as a public plea for societal change,” the group said today.

“The climate and ecological crisis is already here — destroying people’s homes and livelihoods with extreme weather, droughts and fire — yet governments and corporations, influenced by mass media corporations, are complacent by continuing to ignore the root causes of the crisis and the dire situation humanity is facing.

“By failing to cover the climate emergency with the depth and frequency it warrants, the media is enabling the government’s gaslighting of the public — making it easy for government to act like the climate and ecological crisis is years away, ignore scientists’ urgent calls to action and refuse to take the steps we need to start transforming our systems from finite and fragile to strong and resilient.”