Leslie Nassar, the Australian tech guru behind Q&A’s onscreen Twitter stream, has been killed in an apparent hit-and-run car crash in the US.
Nassar also pioneered ABC Radio National’s podcasting empire.
The popular satirist and social media innovator was walking with two of his children on Saturday morning in Nampa, Idaho, when he was hit by a car allegedly driven by a 20-year-old man.
The 43-year-old father of three was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.
We've lost a very fine mind in @leslienassar. Can't overstate his role in getting @RadioNational off and running as a podcast powerhouse.
— Jane Connors (@JaneHolley48) October 23, 2016
“Police say Nassar was struck by a white 1992 Ford F-150 and that the driver had left the scene by the time officers arrived,” ktvb.com reported. “Nassar’s daughters, ages eight and three years old, were treated at the hospital and released.”
Friends, colleagues and fans of his work expressed their sadness on social media yesterday, with many saying he was a warm-hearted genius who was devoted to his family.
Tributes flow for @leslienassar https://t.co/UqJKusPURH
— Moments Australia (@MomentsAU) October 23, 2016
The executive producer of Q&A, Peter McEvoy, told Guardian Australia Nassar started working with the show in 2008 and was still working on ways to improve its social media component.
Nassar was contracted to build a standalone system – TweeVee TV – to filter and moderate the Twitter conversation around #QandA and put selected tweets on screen.
So sad. The engineering genius behind #QandA @leslienassar is gone. My thoughts are with his wife & daughters who he loved so much
— Peter McEvoy (@petermcevoy) October 23, 2016
The system displays relevant tweets on screen moment to moment but allows the show’s producers to control what goes to air.
“Leslie built his system from the ground up, then developed and improved it over the years so that we could analyse and share the Twitter conversation through word clouds and on-set monitors that are now a regular part of each Q&A,” McEvoy said.
“Leslie Nassar boasted that he ‘ruined television by making it great’ and it is absolutely true. Some people didn’t like the tweets on screen but they were wrong – it brought new younger viewers to a national discussion on politics and engaged people in a truly national conversation.
“He is one of the smartest people I ever worked with: he understood code and content and knew how to make them both sing. Leslie Nassar’s work with #QandA produced world-leading integration of television and social media and blazed a trail that other programs are still trying to follow.”
In 2009 Nassar revealed that he was the person behind the Fake Stephen Conroy account on Twitter, which satirised the then communications minister’s proposed internet filter.
Nassar went on to run his own consultancy and was the cofounder and innovation director of Wrangling Cats, where he spent his time working between the US and Australia.
His cofounder, Andrea Horton, confirmed his death on Sunday.
“First and foremost, Leslie was a dedicated family man,” Horton said. “Our thoughts are with Leslie’s wife, three beautiful daughters and his loved ones. The gap that has been left is one that is truly impossible to fill.
“Leslie was a man of principle whose views brought a notoriety in the non-mainstream media, which has seen an outpouring of grief which is well and truly fitting to all that knew him personally or who followed him online.
“He was a man of two worlds. In private he was a gentle, compassionate soul with a fierce love for his family and loyalty to his friends, while at work he was a passionate and creative genius, dedicated to using new technologies in weird and wonderful new ways that seemed impossible until Leslie made them a reality with an understated aplomb.
“He was also a savage satirist, driven by a desire to see the powerful held to account and for justice to prevail. He truly wanted to use digital innovation to make the world a better place.”
Horton said a funding page had been set up to help Nassar’s family.
Nassar was also a regular contributor to Crikey, filing memes under the name Department of Australia.
