News item | 27-11-2023 | 16:05
Broadcasting must continue to make visible improvements
Omroep Ongehoord Nederland (ON) retains its provisional recognition and currently remains part of the public system. The NPO requested State Secretary Uslu (Culture and Media) for withdrawal in April, based on a lack of willingness to cooperate on the part of ON. The State Secretary sees that cooperation is indeed difficult due to ON’s attitude. However, this currently provides insufficient legal basis to make such a far-reaching decision.
It has never happened that a minister had to consider a request for withdrawal. Revoking the permit is a very serious measure and, according to State Secretary Uslu, the government must therefore be particularly cautious in doing so.
This does not mean that nothing is wrong. The NPO has imposed a sanction on broadcaster ON several times and the Ombudsman has repeatedly found that the broadcaster has violated the journalistic code.
However, ON has shown in the past year that it is willing to improve things. The State Secretary expects ON to continue this line of improvement. The State Secretary wants the NPO and ON to resume constructive discussions.
There has been much discussion about whether ON adheres to the journalistic code in its programs. According to the NPO, violating the journalistic code says something about the way in which cooperation can take place within the public broadcaster. The State Secretary does not agree with that reasoning. The journalistic code is not about collaboration, but about quality requirements that a broadcaster must meet. The Dutch Media Authority supervises this. The State Secretary therefore did not take this into account when making the decision.
State Secretary Uslu: “There is not enough legal grounds to withdraw ON’s provisional recognition. I see there are problems. But for the time being I have not observed such a manifest and structural lack of willingness to cooperate that this justifies the severe remedy of withdrawal. I would like to emphasize that I cannot and do not wish to pass judgment on the content of ON’s programming. It is essential that we protect journalistic freedom, in all its manifestations and extremes. The distance between The Hague and Hilversum must remain as great as ever.”
This is a provisional decision. The parties involved now have two weeks to submit their views. The final decision will then follow.