An Australian medical expert has slammed the New Zealand Herald, accusing it of publishing a delayed and inadequate account of COVID-19 vaccine risks to teenagers years after key warnings emerged.
In a strongly worded Substack post, Dr. Ian Brighthope describes the legacy media outlet’s recent reporting (paywalled) as a “belated”, “pathetic” and “toothless” summary that fails to hold decision-makers to account. He argues the outlet had ample opportunity during 2021 and 2022 to scrutinise government policy but instead only revisited the issue in 2026, long after the most contentious decisions were made.
“The Herald didn’t “expose” a “significant failing”, wrote Brighthope, “…it was part of the machine that normalised coercion, cheered the jab rates, and demonised anyone who called the risks what they were: predictable, unnecessary harm to healthy teenagers for zero community benefit. This piece is the journalistic equivalent of showing up to a murder scene years later to politely note that the knife was sharp. Pathetic. Condemnable. Complicit.”
His criticism targeted both the timing and tone of the coverage, claiming it relied heavily on official explanations while avoiding stronger scrutiny of those responsible for vaccine mandate settings affecting young people. Brighthope alleges that earlier warnings about myocarditis risks were known within advisory circles but were not meaningfully pursued in legacy mainstream media reporting at the time.
He further contends the Herald’s retrospective framing presents the issue as a policy misstep rather than a serious and negligent failure of oversight, arguing this softens accountability for political leaders and health authorities involved in the rollout.
“This is not reporting; it’s a delayed obituary for accountability, designed to let every perpetrator walk away with their pensions, reputations, and freedom intact”, wrote Brighthope.
Brighthope also pointed to findings from the Royal Commission of Inquiry, which acknowledged gaps in monitoring and impacts on some individuals, but stops short of assigning direct blame. He argued this lacklustre response, including legacy media coverage, reflects a pattern of delayed scrutiny rather than real-time accountability.
100% !! It was a pathetic attempt to gain some credibility after being a key (and fully paid courtesy of the taxpayer funded PJIF) player in the propaganda machine to coerce kiwis into taking the clot shots. Never forget! NEVER TRUST OR READ THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA AGAIN!!
As WHO originally stated at the beginning masks were useless & the young are not affected..Not long after it was reported on numerous content creators the elderly or very sick would be at risk which was bearing out of the UK & elsewhere..The flu virus has been with us for how many years now & do we lock down,wear masks or get vac’d every year = no. So why the panic & why did our govt lie when the advice was opposite of what they did inc the media.Bloody shameful
It gets me that people actually read either NZ Herald and especially Stuff!! To be honest why should I even care as those people are too far gone and will never learn anything.
That’s way too kind of a description.
With thejr propaganda, lies and omissions, the legacy media can only be described as accomplices to the covid collusion crime.