Mapke de Boer, freelance TV maker for BNNVARA, among others
“I also spoke to the Van Rijn committee about my experiences. It is important that this comes out now, and hopefully the report will contribute to a cultural change. I’ve worked for a lot of TV shows and I’ve experienced so many bad things that I’ve had enough of it now.
“I serve as an editor The world goes on I did experience screams from Matthijs van Nieuwkerk, but I mainly remembered many of the incidents not seen. There was a lot of secrecy. Then the next morning a colleague suddenly disappeared. After two years, I told the editor-in-chief that I thought there was a culture of fear. Some editors looked at Matthijs’ loft to hear what to do. Then he told me to follow their example. In other words: that I had to be more docile. Then I stopped.”
“At a meeting of another talk show, I contradicted an editorial coordinator when he downplayed inappropriate behavior. He became enraged, shouted and knocked things off a cupboard in my direction. That man was subsequently fired. A few months later he called me for an NPO event he was organizing about inappropriate behavior. That is why I do not believe in the self-correcting ability of the TV world.”
Sunny Bergman, freelance documentary maker VPRO
“What is in the report does not surprise me. I think things are a little better now than before, it helps that there are now more women in management positions. As a young woman you can have a really hard time in Hilversum. Even if you are gay, or a person with a migration background. I have experienced sexism myself on a regular basis. Men who don’t take you seriously, or much older men who try to hit on you. I once reported a well-known presenter who made comments about my buttocks. The confidant, a woman, advised me against pursuing it: ‘Otherwise he will destroy your career.’ I didn’t want to work in the editorial office anymore, I didn’t feel comfortable there. The critical view that they appreciated in my work was not accepted on the work floor.”
Kim Hahn, editor HUMAN
“We all watched the presentation of the report in the editorial office on a large television. The atmosphere was tense, everyone was afraid of what was to come. We talked about it afterwards. There was something beautiful about how we experienced that together. I completed the form from the Van Rijn committee, but I have never experienced or seen inappropriate behavior myself. In my opinion, HUMAN is a small, safe broadcaster with many women in management. But hey, we are part of this system. And I hear terrible stories about racism and sexism from friends at other broadcasters.”
Martijn Jas, freelance editor, among others Just see you here
“Bee Peacock if you ever make a mistake. We sat next to DWDD, we were neighbors. Those colleagues always had something anxious. I was once asked if I could go to… DWDD wild. Because you could handle that so well Paul de Leeuw‘. Well, that’s true, but I knew about it DWDD that they crossed boundaries. So I didn’t do that. Everyone was very shocked by the report, it was even worse than already known. It’s a shame that everyone is talking about Matthijs van Nieuwkerk again. That is a bit of pointing at the coach in football, while of course all kinds of players were involved.”
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