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SIAN leader Lars Thorsen was invited to the NRK debate, where he was allowed to name Muslims who he believed should be “deported or interned.” The case is now being examined by the Norwegian Broadcasting Council.
It was Medier24 who first mentioned the case.
On Thursday morning, the Norwegian Broadcasting Council processed complaints against NRK’s Debatten program, which invited Stop the Islamization of Norway (SIAN) leader Lars Thorsen as a guest.
According to host Fredrik Solvang, no one wanted to discuss Thorsen directly, so the host conducted an interview with him alone early in the show. This, and the invitation itself, has received criticism.
According to Medier24, a majority of the council members supported NRK and the editor of the news division, Knut Magnus Berge, in the decision to invite Thorsen to the show.
– Tragic
But Bushra Ishaq believes that the invitation was highly reprehensible.
– It’s incredibly tragic that NRK doesn’t take this perspective. It is incredibly sad because NRK gives an actor who wants to threaten and threaten the existence of certain people and groups in Norway.
At the same time, add:
– This is dehumanizing rhetoric against named Muslims and it is about ethnic cleansing.
Strong reactions after NRK’s SIAN debate: – I was shocked
Ishaq further believes that the NRK failed when they let Solvang act as a counter-vote to SIAN leaders.
– It is also very striking that you have an excessive belief in the host and in the show itself, where you think that SIAN does not need a counter-debate. The program has failed there, he says.
It also highlights the debate over the NRK crown with Dr Gunhild Alvik Nybrog in March, which also generated reactions.
– I faced it
The leader of the program Fredrik Solvang is clear to VG that it was necessary to invite the leader of SIAN Thorsen to a debate.
Over the course of many weeks, a news image had been built where SIAN was in the middle. Thorsen was then interviewed on all channels and several had broadcast his appeals live. Thus, NRK was only last in line for those who let it go, says Solvang, adding:
– But I was also the only one who confronted him with exact statements and quotes, and that’s why it was important. And the debate did something he hadn’t been exposed to before.
The fact that Thorsen was given the opportunity to name the Muslims SIAN was seeking deportees has subsequently been debated, but Solvang believes it is important to be as precise as possible on national television.
– I did it to make it clear and distinct exactly what group of people it refers to, and it allows us to decide whether these members of society, who were born and raised here, should be sent. outside. In general, I am not in favor of speaking in general debates, but in favor of the opposite.
Fredrik Solvang believes that NRK did an important job when it invited the SIAN leader to the Debate. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum
– A debate we had to take
The editor of the news division, Knut Magnus Berge, takes the complaints seriously, but believes it was an important debate.
– We take it seriously and we knew this could lead to problems. The subject of the debate was the limits of freedom of expression. We thought this was a debate that we had to take up and we spent a lot of time considering it. We decided it was okay to invite SIAN, he says.
However, he points out that SIAN will not be seen regularly in the Debate in the future, although according to him it is the starting point of NRK to facilitate that the public debate remains wide and open, and that the majority of voices are heard.
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The decision is also supported by other members of the Norwegian Broadcasting Council.
– I think SIAN in and of itself is not worth letting the studio in, but when SIAN’s presence gets people in cities like Trondheim, Bergen and Oslo into street fights with the police, they are much more interesting than they really are. they are, says Marvin. Wise.
He believes that this is a litmus test for freedom of expression, and that it shows whether one is willing to allow opinions far from his own.
– So it’s basically okay to let SIAN stay in the studio.
At the same time, Dagen’s editor Vebjørn Selbekk thought Fredrik Solvang used good journalism to “strip” SIAN. He believes that NRK has reason to be proud of the journalism they displayed at the Debate.
– In my opinion, this was the best of journalism.
