External experts are poring over the 'inappropriate editing' of international news published online by RNZ. It has already tightened editorial checks and stood down an online journalist. Will this dent trust in RNZ - or news in general? Were campaigns propagating national propaganda a factor? Mediawatch asks two experts with international experience.

External experts are poring over the 'inappropriate editing' of international news published online by RNZ. It has already tightened editorial checks and stood down an online journalist.

Will this dent trust in RNZ - or news in general? Were campaigns propagating national propaganda a factor? Mediawatch asks two experts with international experience.

The comedians on 7 Days had a few laughs at RNZ's expense against a backdrop of the Kremlin on Three this week.

"A Radio New Zealand digital journalist has been stood down after it emerged they'd been editing news stories on the broadcaster's website to give them a pro-Russian slant, which is kind of disgusting," host Jeremy Corbett said.

"You'd never get infiltration like that on 7 Days. Our security is too strong. Strong like a bear. Strong like the glorious Russian state and its leader Putin," he said.

"I love this Russian strategy: "First, we take New Zealand's fourth best and fourth most popular news site - then the world!" said Melanie Bracewell, who said she hadn't kept up with the news.

Just a joke, obviously, but this week some people have been asking if Kremlin campaigns played a role in the inappropriate editing of online world news.

It was on 9 June the revelation of it kicked off a media frenzy about propaganda, misinformation, Russia, Ukraine, truth, trust and editorial standards that has been no laughing matter at RNZ.

The story went up a notch last weekend when TVNZ's Thomas Mead revealed Ukrainian New Zealander Michael Lidski - along with 20 others - had complained about a story written by the journalist in May 2022, which RNZ had re-edited on the day to add alternative perspectives after prompting from an RNZ journalist who considered it sub-standard.

The next day on RNZ's Checkpoint, presenter Lisa Owen said the suspended RNZ web journalist had told her he edited reports "in that way for five years" - and nobody had ever queried it or told him to stop.

RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson, who's also Editor-in-Chief, then told Checkpoint he didn't consider what he had called "Pro-Kremlin garbage" a resignation-worthy issue.

"I think this is a time for us actually working together to fix the problem," he said…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details