(PNN) MEDIA ABANDONS COVERAGE OF MAUNA KEA ARRESTS- USES DOCARE VIDEO/REPORTS INSTEAD;

Star-Advertiser's Hurley Calls It "Setback For Opponents Of Mountaintop Telescope Development" But No TMT Personnel Or Trucks Were There.


by Andy Parx



(PNN- Parx News Net) In a somewhat bizarre display of a combination of sycophancy and laziness some corporate media called the arrests and citation of "Protectors of Mauna a Wakea " (Mauna Kea) early Friday morning "a setback for opponents of mountaintop telescope development," despite the fact that nothing else took place.


After being banned by DLNR from coverage, members of the corporate media- especially Honolulu Star Bulletin reporter Timothy Hurley- apparently did not even witness the arrests and seemingly just reported (paywall) what he was told by the Division of Conservation And Resource Enforcement (DOCARE).


Hurley's characterization of the arrests as a "setback for opponents" came despite the fact that there were no trucks or attempts at any actions related to development of the proposed "Thirty Meter Telescope " (TMT).


Na`au News Now, an alternative news outlet organized on behalf of the presence of the "Protectors" on the sacred mountain, reported in a Facebook video Thursday from the mountain, interviewing kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiians) cultural and religious practitioners who said that they expected arrests and citations as soon as that night and were prepared.


Thursday afternoon PNN had reported that "(DLNR spokesperson Dan) Dennison said the state has also decided to restrict the media’s access during any enforcement action. The decision, he said, was made in part because of the difficult logistics of carrying out a mission late at night," via a statement buried at the end of a Star-Advertiser. article that day.


Instead DOCARE took their own video and apparently handed it out to corporate television and print news outlets such as one broadcast on KHON, Ch 2


Although Hawai`i News Now (HNN) used Hurley's language in an early report, reporter Jim Mendoza later filed a report using a "MAUNA KEA, HAWAII" dateline, describing the arrests at the 9,000 ft level (by the visitor center) that left ambiguous whether he actually had visited and witnessed what happened at the arrest site or just saw the DOCARE video.