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Triple J’s Hack program and its host Tom Tilley have come under fire for giving airtime to a white nationalist.
On Monday night’s program, Tilley grilled one of the organisers of the deadly Charlottesville protests. One woman was killed and several injured over the weekend after a car ploughed into a group of people protesting a white nationalist rally.
Speaking from the US, Eli Mosley told Hack listeners he and other so-called alt-right protesters were “forced into violence” due to the actions of counter protesters and the “incompetence and negligence” of local police.
Tilley, who has been hosting Hack for the past six years, pointed out pictures from the protests showed white nationalists carrying firelit torches and wearing army fatigues.
“Are you sure that all of the people from your side of the protest had no intention of violence?” he asked.
“This idea that it [the car ramming] was premeditated terrorism is a complete joke,” Mosley replied. “Anybody who’s pro-white in this country – or any country that’s historically white – has been labelled KKK and Nazi no matter what we do.”
The interview has been slammed online, with many arguing the national broadcaster shouldn’t be giving airtime to someone like Mosley.
Hi I’m Tom Tilley and stay tuned to hear from literal nazis you’re listening to triple jjjjjjjjjj
— Big Hum (@lonelydandruff) August 14, 2017
Is Triple J the only media outlet in the world that decided getting a local neo-Nazi on to talk about Charlottesville was the way to go?
— Osman Faruqi (@oz_f) August 14, 2017
Probably need to reassess your thinking if these are the people championing you pic.twitter.com/UIaADlPiQd
— Joöno Revånche (@jonnoxrevanche) August 14, 2017
Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, told Fairfax Media the interview was “clearly poor judgement”.
“There are no two sides to this story,” he said. “This troubling decision by the program will only add to the normalisation and mainstreaming … of disturbing rhetoric that must be denounced.”
Dr Abramovich said the media needs to show “moral leadership” when it comes to stories about hatred and violent extremism.
“White supremacists and neo-Nazis are feeling emboldened and look for every opportunity to insert themselves into the public square using all available platforms, including public radio,” he said. “Taxpayer dollars should not have been used to allow a racist and an anti-semite to appear on this respectable platform.”
However, the ABC has stood by the interview and says Hack went to great lengths to present “all relevant views” in its coverage of the Charlottesville riots.
“A counter-protester will be interviewed on today’s program to air at 5.30pm,” a spokesman said. “Hack believes it is important to hear all viewpoints to fully understand the events that developed in Charlottesville over the weekend and will continue the Charlottesville conversation in today’s edition. This is in keeping with the ABC’s commitment to fundamental democratic principles, including freedom of speech.”
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