Five days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Estonian-Russian Vera Ande joined the talk show m† With a calm look, beautiful nose piercing and determination to speak your mind, she explained why she is against the war. She expressed her solidarity to the three Ukrainians at the table. She has lived in the Netherlands for ten years now. Her family in Russia is pro-Putin, they believe the war is a peace mission. “My family doesn’t know I’m here, otherwise it would mean goodbye, it’s done.” Margriet van der Linden looked surprised. Was she not aware that her dinner guest was taking great risks by sitting there? Vera continued: “It may mean I can’t go back to Russia in the next few years, I can’t see my family anymore because I now openly speak out against the war.” A brief pause, then the host abruptly switched to the next guest.
The item won’t let go of me. How carefully was this conversation prepared? To what extent are media makers aware of the impact that a few minutes of camera time can have on someone’s life? Or do I empathize with someone whose life is shaken by war and irrationally seek someone else who has to pay for it?
I decide to ask her myself. Her voice is clear on the phone. “I approached them myself, it was time for me to do this.” It was frustrating how fast the item went. “Summarize a war and deep sorrow with four people in ten minutes.” And then: “But what is the alternative, but not on television?”
During the call it also becomes clear that the cameras did not capture everything. Vera describes the editor she worked with as a very nice woman who listened to her stories with attention and empathy. “We are now three weeks further, the program has even stopped and she texted me this week how it went.”
And how are you? “I now have no doubts that I can no longer enter the country. If the Russian embassy wasn’t watching television that night, I think I was snatched by Dutch pro-Putin Russians. Luckily I was with my family in January. That will have been the last time.” The day after the broadcast, she decides to tell her mother and grandmother in Russia that she m was sitting. “They didn’t think it was smart of me and didn’t understand my point of view.” A cautious smile. “But they thought I was a good fit.”
I looked again at my questions. Didn’t she find it annoying how quickly the gear shifted after she showed herself so vulnerable? “Ah, Margriet van der Linden just did what she could. I am especially glad that attention was paid to the Russian anti-Putin position. The war is so bad, my heart cries every day. Keeping quiet is no longer an option.”
Why did I feel a slight disappointment that the direct object of my media criticism was not as stung by the dynamics of the interview as I was? Can panting or hunted television be a bad thing if her guests don’t experience it as such? Perhaps a good rule of thumb is simply: don’t have a table full of people come over to a studio in Hilversum when they can each utter a maximum of three sentences about the war that is dividing their lives. Vera chuckles. “Yes, that’s a great idea.”
In any case, she had more important things on her mind than my evaluative questions about a talk show. Vera is on a peacekeeping mission (a real one).
Madeleijn van den Nieuwenhuizen writes a column here every other week.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of March 28, 2022