MP Mohammed Mohandis: ‘The NTR must stay and form one broadcaster house with the NOS’

Mohammed Mohandis, media spokesperson for GroenLinks-PvdA, was very angry at the weekend about the plan of Minister Eppo Bruins (Education, Culture and Science, NSC) to lift the NTR. The NTR is a broadcaster with a task laid down in the Media Act: making programs about art and culture, diversity, youth and education, and backgrounds in the news. As a neutral broadcaster without members, and with long -term programs such as News hour,, ” Core,, ” Other times,, ” Top 2000 à Gogoand it Sinterklaasjournaalthe NTR forms a cornerstone of the public order.

“I was really angry,” says Mohandis this Monday morning in the Library of Gouda, where he lives in the neighborhood, about the plan for the reform of the public broadcaster that Bruins presented last Friday. “If you put the NTR on the slope in advance, then it is precisely at the expense of the programs that are of general interest. And that undermines the core tasks of the public broadcaster, and in particular the three major pillars of information, culture and education. I have read the VVD plan well, and they also think the NTR should be saved and form one broadcaster home.”

That is why Mohandis, together with Claire Martens-America (VVD), will submit a motion of that scope during the Chamber debate on 14 April about Bruins’ reform plan. “I see a majority of chamber that says: the minister has not properly estimated and substantiated this,” says Mohandis. RTL News It reported on Wednesday that there is indeed a chamber majority for the motion of at least GroenLinks-PvdA, VVD, NSC, D66, SP and Volts. This means that the parliamentary debate of next Monday is on the focus.

Sword of Damocles

The lifting of the NTR is not the only part of Bruins’ plan that Mohandis has difficulty with. Although he finds some choices defensible, he spoke in a first reaction of a “cold austerity operation”. Because in addition to reforming, the government will also cut 156 million euros on the public broadcaster. “The cut is like a sword of Damocles above the public broadcaster,” says Mohandis. “Because it must start two years earlier (2027) than the order must be reformed (2029). This means that programs will certainly disappear that are of general interest.”

Mohandis finds that very worrying at a time when independent journalism is under great pressure in many countries, and the Dutch public broadcaster is in danger of losing the struggle of American tech giants and streaming services. He believes that Bruins’ plan has no answer to the big challenge that the public broadcaster stands for: how relevant to stay in a rapidly changing media landscape? That is why GroenLinks-PvdA comes with its own plan, which differs from Bruins’ proposal on some important points.

The contours of both plans are partly overlapping. GroenLinks-PvdA also wants to merge the broadcasters in a handful of broadcasting houses, and let go of the member criterion: to stay in the order, a broadcaster must have at least 100,000 members. GroenLinks-PvdA can also go along that no new broadcasters can join. But the party wants to keep the external pluriformity through a back door by creating a pitch platform at the broadcaster houses. Mohandis: “We want 30 percent of the broadcasting time to be reserved for programs from outside the order, which can be polished directly at the broadcasting houses via those pitch platforms.”

With his plan, Mohandis focuses primarily on the VVD and NSC government parties. “If they want to take serious steps [in de hervorming van het bestel]then look at us, D66 and other parties who want to make the public broadcaster stronger. Let’s take the glove together. Because I see similarities between Bruins’ plan and our proposal, so the start of a conversation is there. If the VVD and NSC really want to make the public broadcaster future -proof, and they see the importance of the press for the Democratic constitutional state, I am also willing to take my responsibility and not just state what I find bad about Bruins’ plan. ”

Why would the minister do business with you if the coalition has a majority?

“Because I don’t have the impression that the minister has shared his plans in advance with the four coalition parties. The PVV and BBB think that the PVV should only be future -proof anyway. The PVV only wants to demolish; party leader Geert Wilders calls Journalists rigid of the Richel and the Public Omroep. Then we have it. Where BBB ‘stands’ on this topic, I have heard them calling that the NOS is not independent. “

Want GroenLinks-PvdA completely off the table? Or are you willing to accept part of the austerity if the minister meets you in his plans?

“We have already submitted an amendment with the request to remove the cuts from the table, but there was not enough support for that. If we can make financial profit for the merging of the broadcasters in Omroephuizen, we are of course for that. But that only results in about 40 million euros in savings. So I already know that a large part of the program is being taken away from the best. You just don’t have to make the public broadcaster even more commercial, with that you undermine the public task.

“Given the challenge what the public broadcaster stands for, I say: put the reform central. And if cutting in the bureaucracy results in savings, that is beautiful. But now the order is wrong: we are going to cut back for cold anyway, we do not know what remains of the programming, and then we will also take the order of the public. because we do not need a public broadcaster that is a supplement to commercials, but a public broadcaster that is market strengthening. ”

What do you mean by that?

“Let me give an example. In a company with representatives of private media, I once suggested making the public broadcaster advertising free. They were not in favor of that, even though the public broadcaster competes with commercial media to advertisers. But they told that the large tech companies and streaming services are still a few of the advertisement markets, and that the advertisement markets, and that advertisement markets carmarket, and that advertisement markets car markets markets car parked. Interesting for advertisers.

‘Bruins’ plan is in any case far too little about how the Dutch media landscape as a whole, from the public broadcaster to commercial channels and producers, can be strengthened. That is why we propose that foreign streaming services are obliged to spend a larger part of their budget on Dutch productions. We also believe that the minister is more and more concerned with the fact that Dutch media commit That is why we want him to come up with the offer of the public interest in particular, in particular, more visible online. “

You have already experienced such a large reform of the public broadcaster in 2014. To what extent does this exercise differ from the previous one?

“When the PvdA was in the cabinet with the VVD, State Secretary Sander Dekker has a mega plan [voor de hervorming van de publieke omroep] launched. At the time, as a media spokesperson for a coalition party I read very accurately with all text versions, I felt jointly responsible for such a large exercise. I also experienced that ambitions are not always easy to pour into legislation and regulations, something that Bruins now seems to underestimate.

“In the previous reform round, some broadcasting directors were already there; such as Arjan Lock, Jan Slagter and Dominique Weesie. I hope that everyone is willing to jump over their own shadow this time and really tinker a future -proof order. A broadcasting association is valuable, but not the central organ from which everything has to take place, are also prepared in every time. For all employees who are in uncertainty in the coming years.

“I really feel like to continue the public broadcaster. Also because I am increasingly looking at the media through the eyes of my children, and they consume media very differently than we do. Live it Juvenile to look? They don’t think that way. In their eyes, the program is always live, they can let it start again at the touch of a button. Let’s try to keep this order relevant for the future. For young and old, regardless of someone’s taste, origin or background. ”

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