That is what WNL editor-in-chief Bert Huisjes said on Wednesday in the NPORadio 1 program Spraakmakers. He speaks on behalf of a number of broadcasters,including KRO-NCRV, MAX and WNL. “We are still discussing this, but a majorityis emerging,” Huisjes said.
The position was the result of a consultation between the heads of journalismof most broadcasters. These consultations take place on a regular basis. “Weno longer want to talk about journalism with Ongehoord, because what they dois not journalism,” Huisjes said in the broadcast. “They make a pamphlet-likeprogram that uses structures that we recognize from journalism. But theinterviewers are Twitter agitators like Raisa Blommestijn, without anyjournalistic experience or background.”
CDA wants measures against broadcaster ON, ‘administrative courage is lacking’
The CDA believes that State Secretary Gunay Uslu (Media and Culture) is takingmeasures against broadcaster Ongehoord Nederland (ON), according toparliamentary questions from the CDA faction. According to the petitionerLucille Werner, it now appears to be ‘lack of administrative courage’ to actagainst ON.
She wants to know who is responsible for checking whether ON complies with theconditions set for admission to the system, and wants to know what duties andpowers the NPO Ombudsman, the Media Authority and the State Secretary have inthe case. They often refer to each other when the call to action is heard.
So far, Uslu has been of the opinion that it will only intervene once ON hasbeen sanctioned twice by the Commissariat. After that, she herself isauthorized to intervene, she stated earlier. Uslu said several times that hedid not want to influence the content of programs of the public broadcaster.
The broadcasters also disapprove of the fact that there is rarely a rebuttalin Ongehoord Nieuws. “Someone with whom the microphone is turned off in theHouse of Representatives, may be completely deflated at Ongehoord in a kind ofjournalistic setting,” said Huisjes. He seems to be referring to Forum forDemocracy leader Thierry Baudet. During the General Deliberations in theHouse, he was denied the floor because he made suggestive statements aboutMinister Sigrid Kaag and the British university she had attended. The dayafter, Baudet was a guest in Ongehoord Nieuws. “Unheard News does not pursueany journalistic goals. Its sole purpose is to extend the vote of Forum forDemocracy.”
Bert Huisjes, editor-in-chief of WNL.
‘Ended in screaming’
According to Huisjes, the journalistic consultation with Ongehoord boss ArnoldKarskens ‘has already been completely derailed and ended in screaming’. TheWNL boss emphasizes that the journalistic consultation of the NPO is not aboutthe question of whether the broadcasting license of Ongehoord Nederland isunder discussion. “As far as I am concerned, they should be removed from thesystem. But it is now about a different discussion: that they should not beallowed to call journalism companies and the program that way.”
Ongehoord Nederland previously received a financial sanction from the NPOafter an investigation by the Ombudsman into complaints that the broadcasterspreads incorrect and unreliable information, that the journalists did not askenough critical questions and that the guests mainly came from the right. Thisis contrary to the Journalistic Code of the NPO. The Ombudsman consideredthese complaints to be largely well-founded. The Ombudsman has launched a newinvestigation after a much-discussed item that showed videos of random blackpeople beating up white people without any context.
Huisjes is not the first broadcaster to be critical of Ongehoord Nederland.KRO-NCRV director Peter Kuipers and Omroep MAX boss Jan Slagter previouslystated that Ongehoord should be removed from the system. State Secretary GunayUslu has so far put the ball down with the NPO.
Arnold Karskens and Ongehoord Nederland could not be reached for comment onWednesday morning.