Former DWDD presenter Matthijs van Nieuwkerk and NPO director Frans Klein want to participate in the investigation into the working atmosphere at the entire public broadcaster. This was reported by committee chairman Martin van Rijn on Tuesday evening in the NPO radio program Met het Oog op Morgen.
“We want to speak to them both extensively and that will happen,” said Van Rijn. “They are very willing to do that.”
The Investigation Committee on Behavior and Culture Broadcasters (OGCO) is expected to publish a report on the working atmosphere at the NPO this summer. The committee was set up last November after an investigation by de Volkskrant. It turned out that there was at the popular talk show The world goes on a culture of fear prevailed for years.
Initially, only DWDD was to be investigated, but this was expanded after more reports of similar cases within the entire public broadcaster were received.
Van Nieuwkerk created a culture of fear through extreme outbursts of anger
Van Nieuwkerk came under fire at the end of 2022 after a publication in de Volkskrant about the working culture at his program. Research by the newspaper showed that, according to former employees, transgressive behavior took place behind the scenes of the talk show for years.
Between 2005 and 2020 – the years that the program was on TV – there was a culture of fear. This was caused, among other things, by Van Nieuwkerk’s extreme outbursts of anger. According to the newspaper, many employees were yelled at, humiliated and intimidated by him.
Frans Klein suspended his duties for the time being pending an investigation into the abuses. Klein was involved in the popular TV program on behalf of broadcaster VARA for nine years.
‘Cross-border behavior has a long-lasting effect on people’
Van Rijn said he was impressed by the impact that the cross-border behavior in Hilversum had on some victims. “It has a very long lasting effect on people who have experienced this behavior, even if it was a long time ago,” he said.
“There are still plenty of emotions, also from things that happened years ago. They have such an impact, people still experience so many emotions when they think back to that period,” said Van Rijn in the radio program. He emphasizes that the investigation must be carried out quickly, but above all carefully.
