Since World War II, the relationship between the media and extreme nationalist movements and movements based on racial ideology has been complicated. On the one hand, the world of white supremacists, with their secretiveness, uniforms and extremism, combined with the violent acts of members and sympathisers, exerts a strong attraction. On the other hand, there has been a debate during large parts of the post-war period, in the media and beyond, about how any attention actually favours such groups rather than helps combat them. Another issue generating discussion is whether people with racist or extreme nationalist views should be allowed to appear in the media or not. Some claim that such people are allowed to appear to far too great an extent, while others believe they should be allowed to speak to a greater extent.

Media coverage of extreme nationalists and racial ideologies in the post-war period has often seesawed between silence, belittling, demonization and ridicule. T...