Whitcoulls stocks magazine peddling mosque terror attack conspiracy
Nationwide bookstore Whitcoulls is selling a magazine peddling a number of anti-vax conspiracies and insinuating the Christchurch mosque terror attack was a “false flag” operation.
The Lambton Quay store in Wellington had copies of two issues of New Dawn magazine for sale this week. It was also spotted in another Wellington store, Johnsonville, and at New Lynn in West Auckland.
One issue features a two-page article about the Christchurch mosque gunman, suggesting he wasn’t the perpetrator of the 2019 terror attack that claimed the lives of 51 Muslim worshippers. He was sentenced in August 2020 to life without the possibility of parole on 51 charges of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder and a charge of committing a terrorist act.
Kate Hannah, director of The Disinformation Project, a research group monitoring Covid-19 disinformation, said some of the commentary in New Dawn was borderline in legality.
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It describes the content of livestreamed video of the Christchurch shootings, as well where it had been published, which could encourage people to seek it out, she said.
Watching and distributing the video is illegal in New Zealand, following a ban from the Chief Censor.
Justin Wong/Stuff
Two issues of the magazine were on sale at the Whitcoulls on Lambton Quay.
The special edition of the magazine also published an interview with controversial Australian chef and conspiracy theorist Pete Evans that spans eight pages.
Other articles repeat conspiracy theories on vaccine efficacy and former US top health official Dr Anthony Fauci.
Hannah described the magazine as similar to traditional conspiracy material, which had been around since the early 90s.
“It’s the kind of magazine many might have spotted in a random dairy 20 years ago. Seeing it in a mainstream bookstore such as Whitcoulls is unusual, but suggests that there has been some demand or some utility in continuing to stock the product,” she said.
Much of the content historically for this type of magazine has been highly conspiratorial and, to most reasonable people, ridiculous – from Atlantis, to faked moon landings.
“What’s really interesting here is how the older conspiratorial narratives are now completely embedded with contemporary or newer ones, such as Covid-19 conspiracy and denial, false flag narratives, and the concept of the grand conspiracy called The Great Reset.”
Most of the content in the magazine appeared to remain “lawful but awful”, Hannah said, and despite its seeming-ridiculousness Kiwis should be aware of context.
“People who see and/or consume such content must understand that there are larger and more dark agendas present, particularly the Russian connections, which aim to destabilise liberal democracy,” she said.
Monique Ford/Stuff
Two issues of New Dawn were found at Whitcoulls Lambton Quay in Wellington.
This content was specifically harmful to the Muslim community, the wider Christchurch community, and to social cohesion in New Zealand, since denial of the attacks or denial of the responsibility of the terrorist perpetuated ongoing trauma for those affected, Hannah said.
She said it was up to a business to decide what they sell, although the specific article on the mosque attacks should give pause to whoever was doing the buying and distribution for Whitcoulls.
Stuff asked Sarah Thornton, a public relations consultant who works with Whitcoulls, for contact details for a company executive to comment, but was told she wasn’t authorised to provide them.
“I suggest you contact Whitcoulls HQ, although their policy has always been no comment,” she said via text message.
Calls to Whitcoulls’ head office have gone unanswered.
–Additional reporting by Justin Wong
