Triple J Wants You To Weigh In On The Date Of The Hottest 100
You can fill out their survey now.
You might have to pick a new day to crowd around the radio with your mates, because it looks like triple j’s Hottest 100 is considering a date change.
The most anticipated music countdown of the year — which usually takes place on January 26, i.e. Australia Day — has rightfully lured detractors in recent years for appearing to celebrate what many (this reporter included) consider to be this country’s Invasion Day. When a widespread campaign called for the 2017 count to change its date was nixed by the broadcaster, many of us thought that Hottest 100 would never budge.
However, it looks like things might soon be changing. triple j is now polling its punters to find out just how strong the support is for a date change.The broadcaster has launched a survey to gauge listeners’ feelings on a date change for the annual countdown, as part of a review of the event’s controversial date.
The survey comes as many around the country are considering the various benefits and downsides of changing the date of Australia Day.
An open-ended question in triple j’s new survey.
The survey is anonymous — though it does ask you for demographic information — and all responses will be taken into consideration to “help shape [triple j’s] decision”. The youth broadcaster says, “the outcome will be announced in the coming months”.
Another sample from the survey.
While some believe that a date change may help soothe distress for those Indigenous people who are traumatised by constant reminders of their oppression and subjugation at the hands of white invaders, others are shrewdly wondering if a date change for an inherently problematic date can ever really solve anything.
The conversation has pivoted at various points around attempts to change the date of Australia Day, which have largely been blocked by the federal government. Just last year the government prevented Fremantle councillors from changing the date of their Australia Day fireworks out of respect for our First Nations people whose efforts to get Australians to recognise the negative power of Invasion Day have largely gone unnoticed by the general public.
Although triple j’s date change is not a huge consideration in the broader scale of things, choosing to celebrate our biggest national music countdown on a date other than Invasion Day/Survival Day at least feels a little more respectful than the alternative.
You can fill out the survey here. It takes two minutes.