The Device reader of NRC It may not be awake, yet I would like to draw attention to the sad fate of Ajax coach John Heitinga.
How would that reader find it if publicly about the dismissal of his/her job all day? If you can’t open a newspaper or turn on a TV program without getting the burning question: “How long can Heitinga stay?”
To find out how that feels, also for your loved ones, I have been involved in myself. Suppose I wrote a column with a number of hefty errors, such as Heitinga – together with the leadership of Ajax – has demonstrably made substantial mistakes. That column is borning because without much substantiation I blame the most popular politician in the country that he has secretly forged a worldwide conspiracy with his great example Donald Trump to liquidate all their opponents or at least harm them through deportation to ‘the region’.
Half of the Netherlands falls furiously over me, one wonders-especially with the competing newspapers-whether they have “sometimes gone completely crazy” and finds that this is a typical example of “the arrogance of the canal belt elite”.
In talk shows and podcasts, my resignation is shouted, especially by Caroline van der Plas (“Is one Fortuyn not enough yet?”), The newspaper is short of space to place the indignant readers’ reactions.
A selection of these reactions. “This is unworthy of NRC!” “There is a time to come and a time of firing.” “It is high time that NRC shows this senile old dick the door.” “He starts demented just like his wife.” And for me the most painful: “Get rid of Abrahams, give us Wierd Duk!”
The popular politician himself is the only one who shrugs. On X he only says: “I have always said that it is all rigid of the ledge.” He also sends an email to Trump asking: “How did you get rid of those so -called comedians?”
Just like the Ajax management on Heitinga, my editorial team is being shown to great embarrassment. People are silent and try to postpone a decision as long as possible. Rumor has that some extra ‘supervisory editors’ will be appointed to check my copy for iniquities from now on. But a reduction scheme is also considered that must remain ‘modest’ because otherwise there is not enough money left to attract Wierd Duk. Now the name of Ronald Plasterk, who would be cheaper as a replacement, falls because he no longer needs the money thanks to some controversial business activities in the past.
What to do? The management of such a company cannot be envied. People want to be loyal to someone who has appointed themselves, but at the same time credibility of their own product is at stake. Ajax has not made a decision when I write this yet, people seem to be waiting for a new breach of contract by Heitinga’s team. And the newspaper? From a good source I learned that the editor -in -chief has decided: one more column as the present one – and it ended.
So – maybe until next time.
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