Matthijs van Nieuwkerk’s big sorry interview was arranged more or less by chance, during a train journey by his sweetheart Martha Riemsma. “On the way to Deventer.”
It has surprised many people that Matthijs van Nieuwkerk did not give his big sorry interview in front of Coen Verbraak’s camera, but to NRC journalist Karel Smouter. Coen really wanted to perform, but said he was thwarted by the NPO. But how did Karel end up with Matthijs?
In the train
Shownieuws star Manuel Venderbos reveals it in the AD Media podcast. “I just called Karel Smouter. Yes, I know that one. Of course he’s just a grown man with a beard and a family, but I still see him as my babysitter. I used to babysit him. Yes really. So I thought: I’ll send him a text.”
What did Karel, who himself refuses all interview requests, say? “He said: ‘Yes, it came about very funny, because I was on the train to Deventer.’ He has been living there for some time, to do a bit of journalism behind Utrecht.”
To Deventer
Angela de Jong breaks in for a moment: “Isn’t he chief media officer of NRC?”
Manuel: “Yes, but he was also a kind of correspondent for the east of the Netherlands for a while. And well, now he is indeed chief media officer at NRC. And my babysitter child, still, he always remains. But he was on the train to Deventer, because that’s where he lives. And Martha Riemsma, Matthijs’ girlfriend, was on the train with him.”
Start a conversation
That is a coincidence. “And then he started a conversation with him and that is how the first contact was made. Through her he gained trust and was ultimately allowed to interview Matthijs.”
Colleague Dennis Jansen: “I think it’s nice that he starts some conversations and then thinks: maybe there is something in it. So it’s not entirely a coincidence.”
Two interviewers
By the way, Karel’s intention was actually to take another journalist with him to Matthijs’ farm. “Van Nieuwkerk is a refined speaker. You don’t want to be wrapped up,” says Karel in NRC.
Ultimately, Matthijs did not want that, writes NRC’s ombudsman Arjen Fortuin. “Van Nieuwkerk did not feel comfortable taking a seat opposite Smouter and a second interviewer, with whom he did not yet have a relationship of trust. NRC agreed, but Smouter ensured that various colleagues would read along critically.”