The VVD, the largest group in the House of Representatives, wants a more effective “handbrake” to act against broadcasters that break the line during their recognition period. MP Pim van Strien wants to be able to act against a broadcaster that does not adhere to the “core values” of the public broadcaster with interim advice from the NPO, the Council for Culture and “partners such as the Journalism Council”.
PvdA MP Habtamu de Hoop suggested Monday, during a debate with outgoing minister Arie Slob (Media, ChristenUnie), to lay down in the Media Act that broadcasters must join the complaints body the Council for Journalism (RvdJ), “to ensure that we do not fall through the lower limit”. He was referring to the broadcaster Ongehoord Nederland (ON), which will be on TV next year.
Minister Slob, who decided to grant ON and Omroep Zwart a concession this summer, stated in his last debate with the media committee that mandatory recognition of the RvdJ is undesirable. “We have always seen that as self-regulation.”
The ombudsman of the NPO is authorized to judge complaints about programs at the public broadcaster. And the Media Authority can investigate suspected violations of the Media Act and the ‘public values’ formulated therein. In the event of two violations, the recognition may be withdrawn. However, according to the VVD, this procedure is “rather long”.
Frits van Exter of the Council for Journalism says to NRC to imagine that the VVD ‘expects broadcasters to cooperate with the Complaints Assessment Board with regard to their journalistic programmes. That is our primary task. Advising would be new.”
The Journalism Council is not recognized across the board in the journalistic landscape. BNNVARA, for example, withdrew when the Council gave a negative opinion on a Zembla broadcast about the granulite affair. The new broadcaster Ongehoord Nederland left on last July the VolkskranThey don’t know yet whether they will recognize Council. Ongehoord Nederland does not respond to questions from NRC.
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A ‘taste’
The debate took place in response to a letter to parliament in which Slob presented a first ‘test’ for assessment criteria for new and existing broadcasters. In order to consider the relevance of broadcasters more critically, Slob left the next cabinet an investigation. When a new recognition period (after 2026) comes into play, verifiable criteria must be distilled from this, for example about the demarcated identity of the supporters of broadcasters. Until now, the number of members was the only hard requirement: with 50,000 members and a policy plan, a broadcaster could make it through.
Despite strong criticism, the Council of Culture, the NPO and the Media Authority advised positively last summer about the accession of Omroep Zwart and ON. De Hoop (PvdA) spoke of a “system that does not work when public money is used to spread disinformation and undermine democracy”. D66 MP Jorien Wuite also expressed her concerns.
PVV MP Martin Bosma started the debate with the capitulation of the NOS and went back to the opening of the eight o’clock news on January 12, 2017. That item was about the so-called Steele file, which would contain incriminating information about US President Donald Trump who was sworn in that month. Everything indicates that this document is based on gossip and backbiting. Bosma believes that this is also disinformation and he asked MPs who are critical of ON whether the NOS should therefore be discontinued to spread this.
Slob contested Bosma’s finding that the NPO’s diversity policy – 15 percent of people on TV must have a bicultural background or otherwise represent a minority – leads to “racial quotas” and “ethnic profiling”. Bosma spoke of a “dramatic policy change” that has been initiated under NPO chairman Shula Rijxman, who stepped down this month. “The way in which inclusion is implemented is a task for the NPO,” said Slob. “We’re not going to sit in that chair. But of course they have to do that within the privacy law and rules.”
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of November 30, 2021
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source https://pledgetimes.com/chamber-is-looking-for-handbrake-on-broadcasters-and-fake-news/
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