Ongehoord Nederland accuses fellow broadcasters that no longer want to cooperate at a journalistic level and that they talk to the aspiring broadcaster for excluding ‘the sound of millions of Dutch people’. That’s what presenter Raisa Blommestijn stated today in the broadcast of Unheard of News. She calls the decision of broadcasters WNL, MAX and KRO-NCRV to break the collaboration of ‘very dubious level’.
It is the first time that Ongehoord Nederland has responded to the decision of the broadcasters. ON and chairman Arnold Karskens could not be reached for comment today. Blommestijn accuses the NPO of ‘standing for connection and inclusion, but now doing nothing but excluding and throwing mud’.
The initiative of the broadcasters to no longer want to collaborate with Ongehoord Nederland comes from editor-in-chief Bert Huisjes of WNL. According to the broadcasters that have joined his initiative, Ongehoord Nederland does not conduct journalism. According to Huisjes, ON produces ‘a pamphlet-like program in which structures are used that we recognize from journalism. But the interviewers are Twitter agitators like Raisa Blommestijn, without any journalistic experience or background.’
The broadcasters also disapprove of the Unheard of News seldom would be reciprocated. The WNL boss emphasizes that the journalistic consultation of the NPO is not about the question of whether the broadcasting license of Ongehoord Nederland is under discussion, but does believe that ON should be removed from the system.
Sanction
Ongehoord Nederland previously received a financial sanction from the NPO after an investigation by the Ombudsman into complaints that the broadcaster would spread incorrect and unreliable information, that the journalists would not ask enough critical questions and that the guests would mainly come from the right. This would be in violation of the Journalistic Code of the NPO. The Ombudsman considered these complaints to be largely well-founded.
The Ombudsman has launched a new investigation after a much-discussed item that showed videos of random black people beating up white people without any context. Presenter Blommestijn stated that the black perpetrators all had a racist motive. But Pointer’s research has shown that there is no evidence for this at all. As a result of this item, the Ombudsman again received many hundreds of complaints. The NPO has also asked the Media Authority to look into whether Ongehoord Nederland has violated the media law.
Also listen to the AD Media Podcast with this week’s nominations for the Televizier ring, the clash between Angela de Jong and Johan Derksen, the statement by Linda de Mol and the cancellation of Het Dorp. Listen below or subscribe via Spotify or iTunes.
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