The Sinterklaas news has won the Machiavelli Prize this year. The board of the Machiavelli foundation, named after the Italian writer, diplomat and political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli, made this decision. announced on Monday.
The Machiavelli Prize has been awarded every year since 1989 for an outstanding achievement in the field of public communications. The Sinterklaas News receives the prize because, according to the jury, it is a “fixed and unifying value in Dutch society” and has become an “annual benchmark” over the past 25 years.
In the jury report, the NTR program is praised for its sharpness and humor, and because it is made with “exceptional social sensitivity”. The children’s program “moves at the intersection of tradition and change, always with a unique and surprising interpretation,” according to the jury.
Furthermore, the jury calls it “exceptionally clever” how the Sinterklaas news “communicates on multiple levels”. The simple language is “accessible and understandable to everyone, without losing sharpness.”
Last year the Machiavelli Prize went to court reporter Saskia Belleman. Furthermore, mayor of Westerwolde Jaap Velema, VVD member Johan Remkes, weatherman Gerrit Hiemstra, ICU doctor Diederik Gommers and virologist Marion Koopmans have previously received the prize.
Death threats
The Sinterklaas news is on television every year in the weeks before December 5. The program is known for its storylines responding to current events. For example, last year’s storyline was a nod to the government campaign to prepare Dutch people for an emergency with, among other things, an emergency package.
The head man presented special information videos in which he explained how viewers could organize Christmas Eve themselves. It led to angry reactions from adults and even death threats to actor Niels van der Laan, who plays the main character, because the program would reveal the secret of the children’s party.
The program was presented for the first time last year by Merel Westrik, after Dieuwertje Blok had taken over the presentation for 22 years. Blok died of cancer in March last year.
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