Natasja Froger’s departure from RTL 4 has nothing to do with an expired contract, but with age discrimination. That is the idea of diversity fighter Janneke van Heugten.
Janneke van Heugten, founder of the media platform VIDM that is committed to more diversity in the media, finds it extremely unfortunate that Natasja Froger (57) has been dumped as a presenter at RTL 4. In her latest program For Same Money, she is exchanged for the fifteen years younger Leonie ter Braak.
Age discrimination
The official reason? “Natasja currently no longer has a contract with RTL, we have opted for Leonie, with whom we have had a contract since January,” said a spokesperson for the TV channel.
So Janneke doesn’t believe any of that. She registers Fidelity: “It is not the first time that a presenter seems to be traded in because of her age. Former anchor Margreet Spijker of RTL News was told in 2014, just before she turned fifty, that she no longer fit in with the decor and therefore had to make room.”
‘Also at Op1’
This problem is not limited to RTL, says Janneke. She points to Op1, where Tijs van den Brink (52) is the youngest male presenter and Fidan Ekiz (46) is the oldest female presenter. “The average age of the female presenters of Op1 is 41 years, for the men it is 57 years.”
One of the problems is that women in the media world are still much more judged on their appearance anyway, writes Janneke. Willemijn Veenhoven, former presenter of Op1, for example, was asked to take off her glasses on TV. “A question she probably wouldn’t have gotten if she had been called Willem.”
‘Stop it!’
The important RTL star Luuk Ikink believes that his employer should be careful that not all seniors fly out, because they bring a lot of experience with them. “And yet many women disappear from the screen around the age of fifty,” says Janneke.
Natasja Froger is now one of them. “Don’t discount women that the public has bonded with. Women who are loved, experienced and valued. We want to see real people.”
Botox aversion
The weekly magazine Party speculates that Natasja’s aged appearance could be the reason for her exit. “Given her age, is Natasja sometimes judged on her aversion to botox and fillers? It appears so…”
That aversion makes her an ‘odd man out’ in Hilversum, according to the magazine. But not under the viewer, who would rather see Natasja than Leonie. “So whether RTL’s Peter van der Vorst is wise to bonjour Natasja and let the less popular Leonie take over, is still the question…”