Angela Watches TVJournalist Angela de Jong writes a column five times a week about what catches her eye on TV.
I also have them in my area. People (especially older men, Johan Derksen type, so to speak) who, in response to the revelations about Matthijs van Nieuwkerk, eagerly get their hobbyhorse out of the stable: ‘You are not allowed to say anything nowadays. A those young people immediately start crying that they don’t feel safe. Bunch of snowflakes.’
Very honest? In part I agree. I grew up on a harsh newspaper editorial office, where executives yelled, colleagues yelled at, and as a leader I could be tough as nails. And yes, even screamed. Come on, you have to be able to take a beating in this job, especially when the pressure is high and the deadline is approaching. Was it good? No. Human? Yes. Have things changed at our editorial office in recent years? Yes, of course. And luckily.
But the revelations about Matthijs van Nieuwkerk in de Volkskrant – 70 (!) former employees of DWDD who open a booklet – are really of a different order. They are about humiliation. Abuse of power, lust for power perhaps. An image emerges of an unhinged perfectionist for whom it was never good enough and who could turn black before his eyes in his rage. Dozens of employees left, became ill, developed a burnout or even PTSD-like complaints. But human resources and VARA bosses such as Frans Klein dismissed complaints and let Matthijs do it. Because ‘it was indeed DWDD’. Anyway, read the ten (!) newspaper pages for yourself. But be prepared for your hero to fall from his pedestal irrevocably.
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Now it’s time to put words into action
In any case, that happened to me. Is this really that nice, eloquent and above all very good presenter who came into our living room every evening? With whom I have sat at the table a number of times? I still struggle to believe it. And at the same time I feel a bit dirty as a viewer, screwed up too. Now that I know all this, how can I still enjoy a new season Top 2000 a go go, Chansons, The Connection or Matthews continues? And is an iconic program as The world goes on now permanently smeared? At least now, in retrospect, it feels like a World Cup played on the corpses of 6,500 migrant workers, without us knowing it. How a shame.
What I find most shocking about the whole Volkskrant story is that the two main people involved, Matthijs and Frans Klein (director of the VARA during a large part of the DWDD years and now the Kim Jong-un of the NPO) ended up being quite respond lightly to all allegations. As if a program really trumps people. How can you keep that up?
If Frans Klein does not quickly resign as director of content, the NPO will lose its credibility completely. Chairman Frederieke Leeflang attaches great importance to a safe working environment, she said after the revelations about it The Voice. Now it’s time to put words into action. Klein has let down the employees of DWDD, but in a sense also Matthijs, who clearly could not handle the pressure and the spotlight or simply has a flaw in his character.
Matthew’s future? I wish BNNVara a lot of wisdom in that decision. In the meantime, I’m going to sweep up the shards of my hero who has fallen from his pedestal. I wonder if he will ever return to that.
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