The Media Authority (CvdM) is not going to investigate the state of affairs surrounding a documentary about outgoing Minister Kaag (D66) of Foreign Affairs. However, there will be a broader investigation into the independence of news editors, as a result of the commotion surrounding the VPRO documentary.
Last month, the CvdM said an investigation into the documentary From Beirut to Binnenhof to consider after it became known that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and D66 had interfered with the editing. off by No style requested documents turned out that the makers met Kaag.
The supervisory board, which supervises compliance with the Media Act, now judges that an investigation into the establishment of the program is not necessary. There appears to be “no violation of editorial independence to be guaranteed by the Media Act”, writes the CvdM.
More incidents
According to the regulator, the commotion caused by the news about the meddling with the documentary is not an isolated one. Because there have been more incidents, the Commissariaat is conducting an investigation into the independence of news editors. A similar study was already conducted in 2015.
The CvdM will shortly also publish a report on editorial statutes, which lays down agreements on editorial independence.
The Ombudsman of the NPO concluded last week after his own investigation that the documentary makers did not make any major mistakes, but that they should have made tighter agreements about the scope for adjustments.
The VPRO itself states do an investigation to the Kaag documentary.
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