Roos Abelman, presenter on NPO Radio 1, is under fire after defending Khalid Kasem. It turns out that she has a double hat on. “She earns from Khalid & Sophie!”
The AD has provided convincing evidence that Khalid Kasem is not pure coffee, but it is based on audio tapes that may not have been obtained lawfully. And friendly relations are now trying to draw attention to that. It also happened yesterday in the section Het Mediaforum on the public NPO Radio 1, presented by Roos Abelman.
Audio tapes
Although Khalid readily admits to having bribed an official on the audio tapes in the newspaper’s possession, Roos believes that the newspaper should have confirmed this first. “That is the question: should the newspaper have first investigated whether this is the case before publishing? Or is this publication sufficient in itself?”
Mireille van Ark, deputy editor-in-chief of RTL Nieuws, believes that the AD provides convincing evidence, but Roos does not: “Is that sufficient, Mireille? Is this article so heavy that you can say: this is such convincing evidence that it will also stand in a court case, for example?”
Rose pissed off
According to Roos, you can never prove whether someone has been bribed with cash or not. “That’s the thing, of course. Can that be determined at some point in the future? If not, what does that mean for Kasem’s career? Because it has been written off.”
She clearly does not agree with her studio guest: “So you are okay with the article being published now before you have properly researched it?”
Strong criticism
Roos seems to be on a mission to clean up Khalid’s alley, say critics. Why is that anyway? Media critic Victor Vlam op X: “Roos Abelman is one of the regular sidekicks at Khalid & Sophie. That probably explains her defense of Khalid and attack on AD.”
There is simply a financial interest, according to Victor. “Beats. I think she gets somewhere between 400 and 800 euros per broadcast (depending on how well she negotiates).”
Ombudsman
Should the NPO Ombudsman look into this? Victor thinks so. And Telegraaf journalist Wierd Duk is also critical: “Lol, does the revelation about Kassem serve a ‘social interest?’, they wonder. These people are just not normal. With your ‘context’.”
And the well-known And then Spraakmakers first wants ‘context’. This cute little country.”
Fragment
The radio fragment: