Alexander Klöpping is quite mean and angry about Catherine Keyl. He finds it ‘absurd’ that the 76-year-old TV diva sat next to him at Op1 two weeks ago.
Catherine Keyl was for many years the grand lady of daytime television and has achieved achievements that have never been matched. She therefore still plays a significant role in the Dutch media landscape, including a weekly column in De Telegraaf. That column led to an invitation from Op1 two weeks ago.
“It’s absurd!”
According to Catherine, much too negative is done about KLM and she was allowed to talk about it while Marjan Rintel, the president of the KLM airlinesat across from her. Her performance led to fierce criticism, partly because she argued her point of view with a hypocrisy accusation against Carice van Houten.
Alexander Klöpping was a guest in the same Op1 and shares the criticism. He says in the podcast The Communicados: “Catherine is a very nice woman, but the fact that her column is a reason to put her against the director of KLM and actually involve her in a discussion about aviation is absurd. It’s really absurd.”
Spicy opinion
His host Victor Vlam adores Catherine and jumps into the breach for her. “It is partly an opinion-forming program, so people with a spicy opinion can also be interesting to interview.”
Nonsense, says Alexander. “I think putting Catherine Keyl in front of the KLM director as an opinion maker and then agreeing very much with each other all the time… And Catherine Keyl saying things like: ‘People are so woke these days, they complain about Schiphol, but they fly to Bali myself.’ That, then, is the thrust of the argument.”
Cheap sentiment
The substance of Catherine’s argumentation is hard to find, says Alexander. “’Why aren’t we thankful for KLM?’ Yeah, I think it’s a bit of a cheap sentiment, quite frankly. If you then put down an opinion maker who really puts down something stimulating, then I understand something about that. But this… Yes, I think it feels incredibly cheap.”
Op1 should not lower itself to this kind of easy celebrity opinions, Alexander thinks. “To be honest: I just expect more from the journalistic flagship of the NPO. It really adds nothing at all. I just notice that more often with Op1 than with other talk shows.”
More often than with Jinek
More often than at Jinek? Yes, says Alexander. “Yes, I like them at Op1 more shortcuts to take. Yes, I think so, yes.”
Victor: “I think Jinek has a lot of the same guests, always. Of course you often have people like Tijl Beckand sitting at the table talking about classical music. I mean, you can say the same about him as you can about Catherine about aviation. He is not, of course, an expert on classical music.”
However, there is a difference between expressing an opinion and enthusing, Alexander counters. “In that respect, I don’t think Tijl Beckand can be compared to Catherine Keyl.”