Toxic leadership at DWDD
Of the programs that the Van Rijn Committee discusses separately in its report on misconduct in public broadcasting, talk show De Wereld Draait Door (2005-2020) is the most serious case. Much about the misconduct of presenter Matthijs van Nieuwkerk was already known from revelations from de Volkskrant. Almost all 69 people heard by the committee experienced bullying and verbal intimidation. The report speaks of public humiliation, of “much verbal abuse and in some cases physical violence.” This led to all kinds of physical and mental complaints, some of which were long-lasting and serious, such as burnouts and depression.
The sexual misconduct is new. Female employees were asked to “facilitate the appearance and sexual preferences of (informal) managers.” It is unclear who this concerns. According to several interviewees, the attractiveness and sexual availability of women were important for getting or keeping their jobs. Sex in unequal power relations was normal. After the relationship ended, the women were no longer welcome in the editorial office, according to former employees.
De Volkskrant reported on Thursday evening that a female employee left with almost 20,000 euros after an affair with Van Nieuwkerk ended and an unworkable situation was created. Content director Suzanne Kunzeler (BNNVARA) confirms this. Van Nieuwkerk states that he has not been guilty of sexually or physically inappropriate behavior.
The report speaks of missing, toxic and self-centered leadership. The atmosphere was unsafe in every way. Only 9 percent had a permanent contract, the others were constantly insecure about their jobs. A lot of overwork, overload, the workload was too high. People who were ill were repeatedly asked to come to work. According to the committee, transgressive behavior was “considered normal because it occurred so frequently and was also exhibited by managers and colleagues who were highly respected and supported by management.” The high burnout rate was seen “as a form of personnel policy […] from the idea: We’ll see who holds their own.”
The management of BNNVARA has done little or nothing with the complaints about inappropriate behavior. Erratic and intimidating behavior was labeled as an inevitable part of the program’s success. That’s part of playing in the Champions League, was the reasoning.
It is worse at NOS News and Sport
Female colleagues who are bullied if they do not respond to advances from male employees. Employees who were reprimanded “in an unpleasant way” via the autocue or intercom while colleagues were listening.
Much had already been revealed about the culture at NOS Sport. That is why the sub-chapter about the NOS also causes a stir about the experiences of the newsroom. Based on the questionnaires, the committee concludes that NOS Sport and NOS News still show more transgressive behavior than in the rest of the national broadcaster. More than 80 percent of employees in those newsrooms said they had experienced bullying and intimidation in the past year. While for the NPO as a whole this is 73 percent.
The management is surprised by the negative assessment by employees at NOS News. Although interviewed participants do report positive changes “recently.” The committee is critical of the extent to which management has intervened, after the works council had been drawing attention to undesirable behavior and management style for years. Managers are still selected mainly on substantive qualities, NOS officials also acknowledged in interviews, while insufficient attention is paid to social capabilities.
Flexible employment contracts are less of a factor in employee vulnerability. With regard to NOS Sport, 80 percent of respondents had a permanent contract, NPO-wide this is 67 percent. But the close-knit culture that has emerged is characterized as misogynistic. In conversations with the committee, women say that they are being “hunted”, that women are “wild animals” or that they felt like “prey” as women.
The editor-in-chief under Maarten Nooter resigned last March after de Volkskrant described how presenters could cross the line. Previously, an internal inventory had yielded a hundred reports of inappropriate behavior, including discriminatory comments. The editors did not intervene or intervened too little, as could also be seen from a column by Marijn de Vries in NRC about persistent sexual comments from a cycling commentator.
According to the previous editorial, the committee writes, employees have been confronted about behavior in one-on-one conversations. This would not have been fed back to reporters for privacy reasons. The NOS management recognizes the described culture at Sport, “for example in terms of sexism”. However, the management does say that it has “put in place everything it considered necessary to organize social safety.”