Age reporters "pressured" not to pen negative Earth Hour stories

The Australian:

Journalists at The Age yesterday condemned management for undermining the Melbourne newspaper's editorial independence, claiming reporters were pressured not to write negative stories about Earth Hour and sports coverage was in danger of being compromised by commercial considerations.

At a subsequent stop-work meeting, staff passed a resolution saying recent developments had undermined the separation between commercial considerations and editorial independence.

In a statement accompanying the resolution, staff said the Earth Hour partnership placed basic journalistic principles in jeopardy: "Reporters were pressured not to write negative stories and story topics followed a schedule drafted by Earth Hour organisers."

Which reminds me, I don't think either Denver paper ever mentioned the Denver Newspaper Agency's last-second sponsorship of Earth Hour. What exactly did that consist of, do you suppose?

(via the great Blair)