JaeWeb

Muslim television

January 4th, 2010

Sometimes I really don’t like Dutch politics. Here’s a little news item in the NRC Handelsblad, which translated by Google Translate (and slightly edited) states:

“The Commissariat for the Media (CvdM) designated the Netherlands Muslim Broadcasting Foundation (SMON) for the next five years to provide airtime for Muslims.

It concerns one hours airtime on TV and radio barely four hours per week. The SMON is merged with Ouma, cofounded by Cheppih Mohammed, leader of the polder mosque in Amsterdam-Slotervaart. With this decision, the requests of the Islamic Broadcasting Foundation (SMO) and the United Muslim Foundation Broadcasting were rejected. The commissioner concluded that SMON has the most guarantees that the second and third generation Muslims are involved in targeting the public system.”

The public broadcasting system of the Netherlands, where hours television are distributed according to membership numbers of various broadcasting foundations, is already very outdated and based on a “pillarised” society. But this decision is not even determined by membership numbers, it appears, but by some committee deciding that this organisation addressed “second and third generations”. Who says that should be the most important? What is one hour of television for a group the size of approximately 1/17 of the population?

The Dutch always think they can organise everything - as long as we can identify all the groups in Dutch society and make the appropriate policies for each, all should be fine. This is so little in line with the multitude of identities any individual has, with individual freedoms, with globalization, with … well, with everything modern in society, I suppose. *sigh* Makes me want to vote D66 …

Entry Filed under: politics, immigration and integration, free market and free trade, television, liberalism