Over the past twenty years, current and former employees of NOS Sport have been confronted with sexism, harassment and exclusion from the editorial staff, according to a study published on Friday by de Volkskrant.
For the investigation, the newspaper spoke with 32 employees, former employees and other people involved. This shows that there is a culture of fear in the editorial office. Reports of (sexual) transgressive behavior are also not treated seriously. In addition, favoritism plays an important role in the largest sports editorial office in the Netherlands, as a result of which some presenters, reporters and commentators feel untouchable.
Women in particular have to pay the price in the editorial office, according to the research. They get nicknames because of their breasts. A female employee is told she was only hired because she was a woman. In addition, employees with a migration background feel discriminated against in the editorial office. For example, presenter Aïcha Marghadi is bullied in the workplace. Among other things, she is called ‘excuse-Moroccan’. In addition, the word ‘negro’ is still regularly used openly when it comes to black athletes.
Also read the column by Marijn de Vries about transgressive behavior at the NOS: Imagine that you have to be the nice TV analyst in that atmosphere of NOS Sport
Presenters
One of the presenters frequently mentioned in the article is Tom Egbers. He has a reputation in the editorial office for not being able to get along with beautiful women and he would approach young interns. For example, he would have had an affair with a 22-year-old intern. When this came to light with his wife Janke Dekker, who is now chairman of the Mores hotline, specifically for undesirable behavior in the television sector, among other things, Egbers’ behavior turned into bullying and intimidation. In front of other colleagues, he calls her “the axis of evil”, “the poison” and “serpent”.
After a conversation with Egbers by the editor-in-chief, nothing changes, after which the employee decides to leave. The presenter leaves a comment de Volkskrant regret the mistakes he made. “Unfortunately I can’t reverse it.”
Janke Dekker has previously said in an interview that she would stop as director of Mores if there were a complaint about her husband. Her lawyer Richard Korver did not want to comment on Friday evening. In de Volkskrant she says through her lawyer that she doubts whether the reporters operate “openly and objectively”.
Another former presenter who has received many complaints is Jack van Gelder. He would have asked Marghadi to take a bath with him. Before a major tournament, where a female colleague was also going, he is said to have said ‘if that whore comes along, I won’t go’. Van Gelder says in a response that he cannot remember whether he called the woman names. He did, however, send a message to Marghadi to apologize for the bathing incident. “Take it from me, I never meant to hurt or frighten you.”
Reaction NOS Sport
After the revelations about the program The world goes onalso by de Volkskrant, the editors-in-chief of NOS Sport internally called on employees to report transgressive behaviour. Many reports were received there, after which the editor-in-chief, led by Maarten Nooter, decided to resign.
To the questions that de Volkskrant NOS Sport did not give a substantive answer for the editors. After reading the article, editor-in-chief Maarten Nooter commented that he had not realized how long transgressive behavior could persist. “The general picture that de Volkskrant sketches are painful. Unfortunately, the sounds that emerge here have not reached all of us. That’s what we care about,” he writes.
General director of the NOS Gerard Timmer responded to the article on Friday via a statement de Volkskrant. He thinks it’s important to reflect on what this kind of behavior does to people. With people who have experienced it, but also with other people who work at the NOS. “This is not what we want. This is not what suits us. And that’s why it affects us so much. It shows that there is real work to be done and that what happened in the past must never happen again.”