In a country of few Muslim presenters, Australia’s biggest TV guide publisher has mistakenly listed Waleed Aly as the host of Australia Talks, when instead, comedian Nazeem Hussain will be at the helm.
Tonight on ABC, Australia Talks will feature the findings from the survey in which 60,000 Australians were asked 600 questions about issues that do, and don’t, matter to them. The special will reveal the top 3 issues that unite and divide the nation.
But despite what you may have read in News Corp and Nine’s newspaper publications over the weekend, the special will be hosted by Annabel Crabb and Nazeem Hussain, NOT Waleed Aly.
The error was published in the News Corp ‘Binge TV’ liftout which is distributed nationally in newspapers including The Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Herald-Sun. The unfortunate error was also published in Nine owned newspapers including The Sunday Age and The Sun-Herald.
Both publishers receive their TV listings from a third-party Melbourne based provider called Pagemasters.
Nazeem Hussain shared the following image on Twitter.
The clipping was from the TV insert in all News Corp tabloids distributed yesterday.
“8.00pm Australia Talks. Hosted by Annabel Crabb and Waleed Aly.”
It was announced by the ABC last month, that the special would be hosted by Annabel Crabb and Nazeem Hussain.
As Nazeem indicated, this is the not the first time the pair have been mistaken. Back in December 2014, The Age shared news of Waleed’s appointment to The Project, with an accompanying image of Nazeem instead.
In 2015, the same mistake was made, with TV Week sharing an image on Facebook from the gravity room of the Logies, with the caption – Waleed Aly.
In 2019, Nazeem spoke to the Courier Mail about this common mix-up, particularly when interacting with members of the public, saying:
“There’s nothing embarrassing about being mistaken for one of the smartest and insightful people on the planet. The excitement you see in peoples’ eyes when they believe they’re speaking to Waleed.”
We would love to know what our readers think – is this racism, or an innocent mistake?
