NOS News•today, 7:23 PM
The NPO is withdrawing two of the three fines imposed on Ongehoord Nederland (ON!). The decision follows discussions between the NPO and the aspiring broadcaster about how the collaboration should continue.
The NPO previously asked then State Secretary Uslu of Media for the permit of ON! to withdraw. Uslu rejected that request. Because the broadcaster thus remains in the public system, ON! must still adhere to the requirements that apply to all public broadcasters.
“To give ON! more room to meet those requirements and thereby achieve improved cooperation, the NPO has decided to revoke the second and third sanctions imposed on the broadcaster,” the NPO wrote in a statement. .
‘No case law’
ON! received the second fine because, according to the NPO, the broadcaster did not want to cooperate sufficiently. The third fine was imposed because ON! according to the NPO, would not adhere to the NPO journalistic code and would spread incorrect information.
A fine was previously imposed on ON! for the latter violation. That fine will remain. According to the NPO, this is to “let the court judge the scope of the NPO’s authority when making decisions”. The NPO relies on an article from the Media Act that concerns the systematic disregard of the journalistic code.
The NPO actually wants to know from the judge whether to impose a fine on ON! in the event of a violation of that article. “We want to know what our mandate is. There is uncertainty about these types of issues, because this has never been the case before. There is no case law on this,” explains a spokesperson for the NPO. The procedure is now before the administrative judge, says the NPO.
Intimidation
In the statement, the NPO emphasizes that ON! it is expected to adhere to the journalistic code and continue to implement improvement plans. The broadcaster must also “choose an attitude that contributes to cooperation with all other parties within public broadcasting”.
Earlier this month a conversation between the NPO and ON! ended prematurely because ON! chairman Arnold Karskens and NPO general manager Frederieke Leeflang accused each other of intimidation.
Karskens says in a statement on its own website that the decision “once again proves how hopeless the NPO’s mission was to eliminate ON! from the system”. He speaks of an “unjustified attack by the NPO on our broadcaster that has led to major reputational damage and cost hundreds of thousands of euros in legal defense.”
