The NPO currently sees ‘no possibilities’ to bring the member broadcasters and aspiring broadcaster Ongehoord Nederland (ON!) closer together. The NPO wrote this on Friday in a response to the advice that an independent committee issued a month ago about the NPO’s working methods.
‘As an umbrella organization, NPO has the responsibility to promote and safeguard cooperation,’ the NPO Board of Directors and the College of Broadcasters write in a joint response. ‘At the moment we see no possibilities to bring parties together. There is a fundamental difference of opinion between ON! and the other broadcasters about the status, procedure, judgment and recommendations of the evaluation committee. This is based on more fundamental differences of opinion regarding collaboration, as well as the journalistic code and how it should be applied.’
The Board of Directors and the College of Broadcasters note that ON! does say that it respects the institutions of the NPO. But ‘this does not lead to a changed attitude or action by ON!’.
According to the NPO Board of Directors, the aspiring broadcaster says it does this ‘based on the mission that the broadcaster has set itself. This means that no unity is created. These differences currently appear to be unbridgeable and constitute a major obstacle to the proposed administrative reform and the formation of broadcasting houses provided for therein.’
Twelve of the thirteen broadcasters have made proposals to be merged into four new broadcasting houses, a step that the broadcasters had to take in the reform towards a new and more future-proof broadcasting system. None of the other broadcasters want to form a broadcasting house with Ongehoord Nederland.
The member broadcasters recently expressed their joint concerns about ON! in a draft letter. The broadcasters indicate in the letter that they can no longer collaborate with ON!. This is also stated in the evaluation report of the independent committee that was published last month. ‘substantial shortcomings’ have been identified ‘in compliance with journalistic standards’.
ON! said in a response to the draft letter that he found the broadcasters’ response ‘shocking’ because it is ‘absolutely not up to the other broadcasters to determine whether a fellow broadcaster should be allowed to be part of the system’.
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