Kessler Interview Puts Spotlight On How To Cover Racist Viewpoints
Sunday's "Unite the Right 2" rally across from the White House was a bust, when just a couple of dozen protesters turned up. But the outrage against NPR over its coverage leading up to the event will likely live for a long time.
On Friday, Morning Edition broadcast a nearly seven-minute interview with Jason Kessler. He organized the rally and its predecessor a year ago in Charlottesville, Va., when a white supremacist drove a car through a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one, Heather Heyer, and injuring dozens.
Friday's interview, conducted by Noel King, provoked immediate outrage from those who objected to (summarizing broadly here) what they said was NPR giving a "platform" for Kessler to promote his racist agenda. The NPR newsroom itself was divided. Lost in the criticism (here's a Washington Post opinion piece, a ThinkProgress piece and The New York Times report on the outcry) were the many people who said the interview was revelatory.
Racism and anti-Semitism are repugnant and harmful beliefs that are gaining currency in this country's increasingly polarized environment. So how should a news organization that reaches a wide swath of the American public treat those who promulgate these thoughts?
There is a stark divide in views here. Those who have complained say NPR should not have interviewed Kessler, period, because his views are offensive and it gives oxygen to his cause.
