NPO Ombudsman Margo Smit has received a record number of nearly 1,700 complaints in the past few days following the broadcast of Ongehoord Nederland (ON) last Thursday. He let the PA know on Sunday when he was asked. In the article, ON claimed to show racism against whites. There is no evidence of a racist motive, it turned out on Saturday.
Never before has the Ombudsman received so many complaints in such a short time. The number of 1,689 is almost double what it received for the entire previous year. The complainants report, among other things, that they found the controversial element of Thursday’s broadcast racist and discriminatory. Reports of hate speech were also submitted to the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman informs that all complaints will, as usual, be forwarded to the competent broadcaster. “I am obviously curious about their responses to the complainants,” she says. “Just as I am curious to know if the supervisors – which are the ONP, the Media Authority and the Ministry – will look into the matter further.”
The subject was a collection of videos in which blacks – in unknown countries, with unknown reasons – attacking whites with kicks or blows.
Transmission under fire
Ungehoord Nederland has been targeted from various quarters since Thursday’s broadcast. For example, all other broadcasters who are part of the NPO condemned the article and declared it “unworthy” for the public broadcaster.
The National Coordinator against Discrimination and Racism found that the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science failed to oversee the affairs of Ongehoord Nederland.
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