In pre-war times it sometimes happened that we couldn’t find an ‘opening newspaper’, no subject was big enough for a prominent place on the front page. Since the Russian army invaded Ukraine, the world has moved so dramatically that every day we have to choose from a large number of options.
On Wednesday, we had no fewer than four issues that deserved a prominent place on the front page: there was a summit in Antalya, where Ukraine and Russia were going to negotiate peace; Geert Groot Koerkamp, one of the few Dutch journalists still active in Moscow, described in two strong background stories how the Russians are almost completely cut off from independent journalism; New figures showed that purchasing power in the Netherlands was going to fall dramatically and VVD State Secretary Eric van den Burg made a 180-degree turn compared to his predecessor by suddenly adopting a friendly tone about the reception of refugees.
A day later, Minister Christianne van der Wal announced that she would buy out Dutch farmers by force if necessary, a step that would be seen as revolutionary in the old world. In addition, we had an interesting survey among councilors, which showed that an increasing proportion of decisions are taken at supraregional level, where democratic control is lacking. Both pieces failed to make the front page, as we felt these issues were dwarfed by the suffering afflicting Ukrainians.
This spring is reminiscent of the spring of 2020, when the coronavirus hit for the first time and shook the world to its foundations. Even then, so many dramatic events took place that we could barely keep up. And even then we had to select very strictly every day and news that was previously big was suddenly tucked away in a short message or completely ignored.
Fortunately, in addition to a newspaper, we now have other stages at our disposal. Our app and website have no boundaries and can therefore continuously bring an endless stream of news and backgrounds. Audio is also becoming increasingly important. In addition to the weekly political podcast De Kamer van Klok, we now also have a daily podcast: War in Europe, in which we discuss with our correspondents and specialists how the world is changing before our eyes. In 15 minutes you get all the relevant background information to understand the earth-shattering events, ideal for the drive to work.