Bridget Maasland has been begging on RTL Boulevard all week for donations so that poor first-graders can buy a nice backpack, but this is causing annoyance. “How much do you give?!”
It is a fixed ritual at RTL Boulevard: once in a while the program takes part in a week’s campaign for charity. The presenters look worriedly into the camera, poignant stories are told and the donation number is constantly shown. A bit of gossip and in between appealing to the conscience of the viewer.
“And you, Bridget?”
This time Bridget Maasland and her colleagues are campaigning for poor first graders who would like to buy a decent backpack, but not everyone is impressed. “What bothers me is that we never hear from the people there how much they themselves contribute,” says TV authority Tina Nijkamp in the podcast Tina’s TV Update.
It’s the same song around Christmas, says Tina. “People are asked to donate money, but they never say how much. The question is how that is possible. Yes, I don’t know. I heard Bridget herself say: ‘We also go to that site’, but it is very disturbing that you are almost forced to transfer money yourself.”
‘Give, give!’
Well, not forced, according to Tina. “But like: ‘Give, give, they need it!’, but then you don’t hear whether they contribute anything. Or not how much they give. Very honestly I have to say: I have something against all these types of broadcasts anyway. I don’t like all those charity broadcasts that call for money at all.”
Why then? “That’s because I saw how it works a long time ago at De 5 Uur Show, such a good-cause situation behind the scenes. I understand that it is all good intentions, but there are also a lot of costs involved that first have to be deducted from the proceeds.”
Nasty aftertaste
These donations often go to completely different causes than just charity, says Tina. “Films have to be made and in the case of The 5 Hour Show, the presenter also went all the way to Africa. Well, all costs are incurred for that and that is first deducted and only then do you have money left over.”
“I always think: if you give to a good cause, just transfer it yourself. Those TV actions left a bad taste in my mouth. I know that may not be okay of me, but well, I just don’t have a good feeling about it, let’s put it that way.”