teenager on air
Action by NZME to uphold a complaint about an interview by Heather du Plessis Allan in which she “ridiculed” a young climate activist was correct, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found.
In the Newstalk ZB radio interview in September last year, du Plessis Allan “hysterically” laughed at, and teased the interviewee Izzy Cook, a 16-year-old School Strike 4 Climate organiser.
The BSA accepted NZME’s action in upholding the complaint directly and did not uphold a complaint that the response was insufficient.
While talking about the climate effects of unnecessary air travel and her organisation’s demand to restrict it, she admitted to Du Plessis Allan she had recently taken a trip to Fiji with her family.
“Don’t you care about the climate?,” du Plessis Allan replied. “Come on, mate. Are you serious?” she added between bouts of laughter.
After the interview, du Plessis-Allan read out messages from listeners, some stating she had bullied the interviewee, and others finding it a “great interview” for exposing the interviewee’s “hypocrisy”.
Link to article: Radio host 'ridiculed' teenager on air | Otago Daily Times Online News (odt.co.nz)
