Paper stripped from shelves

Politics creates passion and emotion in people and this was no more evident than at the Wallabadah General Store in northern NSW on Monday.

Owners Glen and Kim Sheluchin were so outraged by the front page of a News Corporation Sydney metro they refused to sell copies in protest.

It featured a full-page photo of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd with an editorial headlined “Kick this mob out”.

Incensed Mrs Sheluchin, a proud Labor supporter, vowed then and there to remove it from her store.

“I won’t have it on my shelves, it’s clearly prejudicial and I’ve got no reason to sell the paper to people.”

Mr Sheluchin called the paper to tell them what they’d done.

He said a newspaper should report the facts, and the opinion of the editor should be kept off the front page.

“I wasn’t impressed with being given someone else’s opinion,” he said.

“I see a paper is there to provide us with information so we can form our own decisions.”

Mrs Sheluchin said they had received a mixed response from newspaper customers.

“Most people have said, ‘good on you!’” she said.

Mr Sheluchin suggested the front cover was either politically biased or intended to create controversy and generate more sales. 

“Nothing sells more than controversy and drama.”

The former Liberal voter, who is now “pro-Rudd and happy to admit it,” said they would have done the same if a paper was blatantly biased to Tony Abbott or the Coalition.

The couple are calling for unprejudiced, unbiased and balanced reporting for the remainder of the election campaign, or more papers might find themselves stripped from shelves.

“If they’re fair they can stay, if not they’re going in the bin,” Mrs Sheluchin said.