Matthijs van Nieuwkirk: ‘It wasn’t worth the DWDD staff to be broke’ | modes
Van Nieuwerk was unaware of the reason for the high turnover rate in his program. He says this in his first interview since the article De Volkskrant with the charges against him. “Of course I knew about those events. And about my tantrums. But what I didn’t know: that we – as on the first page of De Volkskrant “I stood up – we were a burnout factory,” says the announcer.
“We made a lot of people unhappy behind the scenes,” says Van Nieuwkerk, who now laments. “It made them sick. Then you feel completely ashamed.”
“A long time ago, I think I had a conversation with HR where I was told that turnover in our program is high. That’s also concerning, but it wasn’t about burnout.” And Van Nieuwkerk says his production manager didn’t know that either.
“I wish we had never started that,” Van Nieuwerk sometimes thinks. However, he does not only look at it negatively The world goes on (DWDD). And then I think: in fifteen years, more than a thousand employees have done a lot of work for this DWDDwith a lot of dedication and I often think proudly.” When asked if the program could have been so successful without the prevailing work climate, Van Nieuwerk said: “Well, without the tantrums, not without my toughness and my ambition.”
Van Nieuwkerk says he doesn’t want to look back too much, especially to the future. “We have to move forward and ensure that there is something like a culture of fear as described in De Volkskrant It doesn’t happen anymore.”
Ontvang meldingen bij belangrijk nieuws over Matthijs van Nieuwkerk
Van Nieuwerk regrets his initial reaction to the accusations
Released in November last year De Volkskrant An extensive article on my editor’s high workload and culture of fear DWDD been detected. Several examples of van Nieuwerk’s tantrums are described.
The presenter initially responded in writing. This reaction earned him a lot of criticism, because he didn’t put his hand in his chest enough.
Later, he sees this himself. “I should never have done it this way. I was so shocked, you could tell I was drenched in powder, my head was exploding with so much emotion.” Van Nieuwkerk said the scores had been “settled” in the article, which seemed “disproportionate”. So he reacted “from a defensive reflex.”
“I should have just said, ‘Guys, take a time out.’ And I had to take three weeks to think. Let the whole storm get over me and then name what’s valuable in the piece and apologize honestly for what didn’t go right.”
This time he looks back in more detail at his outbursts of rage De Volkskrant have been described. “It wasn’t good. It was ugly on my part. It’s really something to be ashamed of. I regret it too.” The presenter describes the incident in which he yelled at a healthy man as “certainly one of the darkest pages” in his career. Whether or not he wants to return to television, Van Nieuwkerk doesn’t know yet.
The investigation into nonprofit and DWDD abuses has been expanded and delayed
Commissioned by the Non-Profit Organization, former Minister Martin van Rijn is conducting research with a special team on transgressive behavior in public broadcasting, and in DWDD particularly.
The so-called Commission of Inquiry into Broadcasters on Behavior and Culture wanted results this summer, but it’s too late.
The committee informs her that “the investigation is larger than initially assumed”. website. “There have been developments within broadcasters and programs that have led to a broadening of the investigation. More people than expected have also applied for an interview.”
The committee is expected to present its conclusions and recommendations in the fourth quarter of this year.
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