The editors of de Volkskrant and Fidelity have clashed hard with their publisher, DPG Media. A controversial plan by the company, the journalists wrote in a letter to the management on Tuesday, “reaffirms the impression that DPG no longer pays attention to the importance of good journalism”.
The editors are outraged by the management’s intention to bring forward the closing times (‘drop times’ in jargon) of the newspapers. As a result, much of the news that occurs in the evening could no longer be published in the morning newspaper. That plan is “unacceptable and impracticable,” write the chairmen of the editorial boards of the two newspapers. On behalf of their editors, they demand that the so-called distribution plan “still this week” is off the table.
They quote the editor-in-chief of Fidelity who already wrote to management this weekend that the plan “immediately affects successful titles in the quality of their product” and “is an inexplicable step”. According to the plan, the Saturday newspaper would have to be printed on Friday evening at a quarter past seven, the weekday newspaper at a quarter to ten in the evening, an hour earlier than now.
If the management does not back down, it must take ‘follow-up steps’ into account. At a plenary editorial meeting of de VolkskrantMonday, even raised the possibility of a strike.
Fewer deliverers
The background to the controversial plan is that DPG, like other newspaper publishers, is struggling with a major shortage of deliverers. The idea is that by printing the newspapers earlier and delivering them to the distribution points, they can still be delivered on time with fewer deliverers. The deliverers can then make larger rounds, and the delivery can be professionalised.
Also read: Delivery crisis in the newspaper world
In addition, a printing company in Flanders where DPG prints its Flemish newspapers will soon close. As a result, DPG’s Dutch printers also have to start printing the Flemish newspapers. In order to be able to distribute all newspapers on time, they must then start printing earlier.
The journalists “do not think that we can deliver a high-quality, competitive morning paper to our readers by bringing the pocket times forward. We see that our task as a newspaper as a ‘watchdog of democracy’ will come under pressure if it is no longer possible to properly report on paper, among other things, national politics and foreign news.”
“We want to be able to produce a fresh newspaper, also for Saturdays,” says Toine Heijmans, chairman of the editorial board of de Volkskrant† But he does not believe that the journalists have lost faith in their management. “The letter has done its job, talks are now underway, I hope the sting is out.”
Philippe Remarque, within the board of DPG Netherlands responsible for the matter, has “not taken the letter from the editors as an ultimatum”. Bee de Volkskrant he himself was a member of the editorial board twice and for many years editor-in-chief. “I know that as a representative of the editorial feeling you want to make a strong statement. So those harsh words don’t scare me that much, I forgive the emotions.
Journalistic quality
“We are now trying to figure it out together. We’re going to rethink the plan. But that DPG would not have an eye for good journalism is really nonsense. We invest in it, we stand for its social importance, it is the basis of our company.
“The editors agree with us that delivery needs to be improved. The discussion now revolves around the question of whether ‘dropping’ an hour earlier is indeed at the expense of journalistic quality. We say: in the age of the smartphone, we have a different stage to deliver the latest news – and I think readers are used to that too.”
When asked whether the editors of NRC has to deal with earlier closing times, says editor-in-chief René Moerland: “No. We drop early: during the week at a quarter to eleven, Friday evening at a quarter past nine.”