Bondi, PBS say they wanted to show Norman Lowell 'warts and all'

Broadcaster Lou Bondi' and the Acting CEO of PBS, Natalino Fenech, insisted this afternoon that Norman Lowell was interviewed on Bondi Plus on May 3 to show viewers who he really was.

They gave their explanations to the Broadcasting Authority, which has accused them of violating broadcasting rules on racial equality.

Pierre Cassar, the CEO of the Broadcasting Authority, said that Mr Lowell had spoken about Hitler being his hero, and about denying the holocaust. He also promoted racism.

Mr Bondi', Mr Fenech and legal counsel Therese Comodini Cachia, argued that their aim was to expose Mr Lowell "warts and all" and to immediately rebut his objectionable comments.

Mr Lowell had been challenged throughout the programme with facts and counter arguments.

Mr Bondi' said that after the programme he had not found anyone who could argue that Mr Lowell's position had been strengthened as a result of the interview. Some had complained that the programme should not have been broadcast, but when he spoke to them they acknowledged the reasoning behind it.

Mr Bondi' also pointed out that Mr Lowell had been previously interviewed on the TV - including an interview by Toni Abela on Obelisk.

Mr Lowell, he said, was a man who had garnered 3,500 votes in the European Parliament elections. The ideas he had spoken about were not new and had been uttered before, but now they were challenged.

The purpose of the interview was not to show the staid man portrayed of BA election clips where he was warned not to break the law, but the man who thought that Hitler was a hero.

Dr Comodini Cachia said that one had to balance freedom of expression and the public's right to know with freedom from discrimination. The producer could not be held responsible for what his guest said, especially when he rebutted those arguments and disagreed with what he said. This was the situation in overseas caselaw.

Mr Bondi' said that should one argue that one could not interview people whose views were found objectionable by the population at large, one could not even discuss abortion.