Mike Boddé, presenter of the NTR, actually understands Matthijs van Nieuwkerk’s outbursts of anger. “There are too many talk shows in the Netherlands. Just find a good editor.”
There are not many people who condone the misconduct of Matthijs van Nieuwkerk. They are mainly older gentlemen such as André van Duin, Jan Slagter and Ruud de Wild. And Mike Boddé is now also part of that list. He is a presenter at the NTR, for which Matthijs makes the programs about the Top 2000.
Trials by media
Mike is annoyed by the media attention for Matthijs. “I think I am one of the few, but I will say it anyway: the Matthijs case is one trial by media“, he writes TwitLonger.
According to him, it is quite logical that Matthijs behaved like a TV executioner. “There are too many talk shows in the Netherlands. Find a good editor. There are those that don’t get any further than Wikipedia and the first hits on Google. Then I understand that as a boss you get very angry.”
Taken too high
According to Mike, it’s likely that all those dropped out DWDD editors just weren’t good enough. “It has not yet been said at all that someone who is at home with a burnout has contracted that burnout because of Matthijs’s anger. It could also be that the job was just too ambitious. Or that he was not assertive enough.”
We shouldn’t exaggerate, he says. “Nowhere in the law does it say you can’t get angry. Anger exists and may be vented. (…) You can also say something back: ‘Sorry, but Matthijs, that’s not how I work with you, take it easy.’”
Unsafe climate
It’s all getting crazier in this country, according to Mike. “Nowadays everything is suddenly an ‘unsafe working climate’. Students think it is already unsafe if a lecturer asks them a question about the material they have read! (Frequently heard complaint from students).”
He continues: “And, even more importantly: are we already going to victimize Matthijs because Eus and Angela and Eva say that what he is doing is not possible? Why don’t we hear one positive experience? I have always been able to work very well with Matthijs. And I have often been surprised – nothing but praise for the good editors – about the level of editors at talk shows.”
Heavenly
It is often just bad what is going on in such an editorial office, says Mike. “Truly terrifying. ‘Mike, we have a gap in the line-up, can you come and recommend something to us? Do you have another CD?’ ‘Whah, I made a CD a year ago, I can just pretend it’s just been released…’”
“Or: ‘Do you know Herman Brood’s music?’ Answer: “Hardly.” Do you want to sit at our table because we don’t have anyone..? For now I support Matthijs. Weather permitting.”
Tweet
Mike states on Twitter that de Volkskrant paints a distorted picture:
