RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: The word 'populist' is generally used as a smear against the new Dutch right wing. But the politicians and sympathisers launching the Populist Broadcasting Company are proud to use the term. They want to produce television and radio that puts respect for Dutch culture first, and counterbalances what they see as a ruling leftwing elite.
The political party Liveable Rotterdam is behind the new national radio and television organisation, dubbed the Populist Broadcasting Company.
The term populist has often been applied to the new rightwing parties and politicians that have caused a stir in the Dutch political scene in recent years. They range from murdered politician Pim Fortuyn, who tried to set in motion a "popular revolt" against the political establishment, to maverick former conservative VVD minister Rita Verdonk, to the controversial anti-Muslim MP Geert Wilders.
Elite
Although some might think Geert Wilders gets more than his share of media attention in the Netherlands, Liveable Rotterdam leader Ronald Sörensen believes the Dutch media is dominated by the left.
"All the other broadcasting organisations in the Netherlands are the mouthpiece of our socialist liberal elite. Let's have current affairs programmes where for once Mr Wilders and Ms Verdonk can feel at ease. They've constantly been blackened by the left." >>> By Michael Blass | November 21, 2008
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