VRT

There was plenty of material for discussion with the VRT boss in Terzake. Not only is there the saga surrounding The Trial That Nobody Wanted, the three-part documentary in which the victims in the Bart De Pauw case tell their stories, but three (ex) employees of the VRT also sent an anonymous letter to eight parliamentarians about “toxic leadership, transgressive behavior, favoritism and bullying behavior” at Jong, a youth editorial team of VRT NWS.

Frederik Delaplace, managing director of the VRT, returned to both topics. “Since yesterday I have the impression that an image is being created of the entire organization that I do not recognize. Then it is my duty to respond,” he explained his performance in the studio. “We are not an organization in crisis, we are an organization that is doing exceptionally well. But today we are suffering the consequences of a decision that we have admitted was wrong and for which I have also personally apologized.”

Unconditional apologies

That wrong decision by Delaplace was his demarche to remove the broadcast of The Trial That Nobody Wanted from the broadcast schedule, after multiple consultations with TV maker Bart De Pauw. “The initiative for this came from Bart De Pauw, who after a long time showed a sense of guilt and wanted to apologize and was prepared to stand up for the victims,” said Delaplace. “He was very explicit about wanting to apologize. We found that valuable.”

Delaplace denied that De Pauw imposed conditions for that apology, such as deleting a number of elements in the documentary. “We wanted to be 100 percent sure that his apology was sincere, complete and valuable to the victims. We had a number of discussions about how we could organize that. A fourth episode of the series, with apologies from Bart De Pauw, was also discussed. We consulted about this with the creator of the series (Tess Uytterhoeven, ed.) and production house Woestijnvis. They didn’t think that was a good idea.”

Error in judgment

Delaplace acknowledged in Terzake that it was an error of judgment to wait two months before involving the victims. After all, the first consultation with De Pauw dates back to January 11, the first conversation with the victims only from March 15. “It now seems like we’ve been talking for 60 days, but I can count the number of meetings on one hand. There were a maximum of four. Only late in the process did we become certain that Bart De Pauw was serious about his apology. We then felt it necessary to temporarily remove the series from the broadcast schedule. That was an error of judgment. We should have contacted the victims much earlier.”

The VRT boss qualified the fact that as managing director he took the decision on his own to put a program on hold. “From the start, we decided to discuss this extremely sensitive file with a few people within the organization. We have had considerable discussions about the steps to be taken. At some point someone has to make a decision, and that’s me. By postponing the series, we thought we would create conditions that would facilitate a rapprochement. That turned out not to be the case.”

No comeback

According to the managing director, rapprochement discussions between Bart De Pauw and the victims are still ongoing. “But we are no longer involved in that. That is not our role,” says Delaplace, who emphasized that the discussions with De Pauw did not take place with a view to a possible comeback of the still popular TV maker. “It would be particularly strange if the managing director of the public broadcaster started working again with someone who recently asked for 13 million euros in compensation from this house (De Pauw and his family had demanded compensation from the VRT because it allegedly made mistakes when the contract with De Pauw was terminated, ed.). That was not the focus of the conversations.”

Regarding his own position, the VRT boss acknowledged that “they have not been easy days”. “The Flemish government and the board of directors maintain their confidence in me. This error of judgment should not mean the end of a very valuable project here on VRT.”

“No toxic leadership”

Today, of all days, but not coincidentally, eight parliamentarians received an anonymous email about inappropriate behavior in the Young editorial staff of the VRT. The authors of the letter, three (former) employees of the public broadcaster, pointed out that the VRT did not side with the victims after reports of “toxic leadership, favoritism and bullying”. The key figure is said to be an editorial director against whom 24 victims testified, separately. The facts are said to still be ongoing.

“It paints a picture of public broadcasting as I don’t know it,” responded Delaplace, who acknowledged that an investigation has taken place. “We are familiar with the file, a formal complaint was received at the beginning of this year. I think I can say that our welfare procedures have worked as they should. The complaint was investigated in detail and independently, but there was no evidence of toxic leadership or inappropriate behavior,” he said categorically. The editors of Jong have stated that they support their superior and the VRT management.

2024-03-28 20:11:36


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