Art Rooijakkers enjoys remarkably little trust from his new colleagues at SBS 6 when it comes to the presentation of the new six-hour news on that channel. “Really way too woke!”
The time has almost come: after the weekend, SBS 6’s new six-hour news, News of the Day, will start, which is a collaboration with the right-wing Telegraaf. For a program that relies on all kinds of conservative opinion makers, a striking choice has been made in terms of presentation. It is owned by Art Rooijakkers and Malou Petter.
Asshole
Art in particular has a hard time. He is regularly attacked harshly at Today Inside, where they have no confidence in the presenter at all. “He’s a piece of shit!”, says Johan Derksen.
Story boss Guido den Aantrekker is also not very enthusiastic. He agrees SBS Show News: “I don’t understand. It must be somewhat of a realistic right-wing program. It has to counterbalance some of the left-wing media programs that you have. There are also a number of people affiliated with De Telegraaf, which is a right-wing newspaper.”
‘Very woke’
According to Guido, such a program is very important. “I also think that it is necessary and that you miss that in the Dutch media landscape. Then I don’t understand why Art Rooijakkers and Malou are portrayed as the faces of that.”
“They are both good journalists, but you would still think: if you want to broadcast such a program with a right-wing signature… I am a fan of Art on the radio… I think he is good on TV, but there are also better ones. On the radio, at BNR, you really hear that he is a very good journalist, but there he is very woke.”
Too left
When asked whether Guido thinks the presenter is ‘too left’, the show expert answers: “Well, I don’t know whether woke is necessarily left, but in any case not realistically right, which you also see in the election results in the Netherlands. There is a great need for that and you would rather have made someone like Wierd Duk the face of it.”
Colleague Bart Ettekoven: “Or will there be a very nice tension between the guests sitting at the table?”
Right sound
Guido doesn’t think so. “Is that what you expect if you are going to broadcast a right-wing program? Then you can say: we want some tension, but the viewer is really not looking for that. He is just waiting for a right-wing sound.”
It should have been Wierd Duk, he thinks. “Yes, I think such a Wierd Duk. He really is a Telegraaf face and a right-wing face and a man who knows a lot about politics and also knows exactly what the general Dutch public wants to listen to and watch…”
Imagination
Dyantha Brooks has her doubts about that. “But I have to say: Art Rooijakkers appeals to the imagination a little more for TV-watching Netherlands, right?”
Guido: “Yes, but that could just as easily be a housing program or a B&B Full of Love. With a program like this, I think you really need an iconic presenter. You also see this with Johan Derksen. You also watch that program because of him.”
Invitation
What does Art think of the massive criticism? Has he already received an invitation from VI? “No, there is no invitation for me, no. No, no. They are paid to shape a program there, they give their opinion and that is what they should do.”
“I’m just busy preparing the program, so that’s actually where my focus is on and not what exactly is said everywhere in which program.”