Minister Slopp: In the past, the D66 had an impact on the Kaag . documentary

OCW’s Secretary Slope, who is also responsible for public broadcasting, says he was later not fully informed of the channel’s founding. documentary About the leader of the D66 Kaag.

In a letter to the House of Representatives, he wrote that he must specify “all things considered” that “there was indeed D66 involvement in the making of the documentary.”

Slopp concludes that the Vice President’s Office of Rehabilitation (VPRO) has not fully briefed him on this before. As a result, his answers to Parliamentary questions from Freedom Party MP Busma were phrased “very firmly” when he said the D66 had no effect.

The Minister acknowledges that he did not notify the House of Representatives properly. However, he does not want to pass judgment on the broadcaster’s behavior because of the “legal (constitutional) freedom of expression and independence of the media.” As a minister, he is not allowed to interfere for this reason.

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Slope considers the Media Authority, as an independent supervisor, the “appropriate party” to investigate whether the documentary was produced in violation of the media law. Slopp is also awaiting an investigation with the nonprofit’s ombudsman.

“It is clear that there is, in any case, a relationship between politics and the media,” he wrote in his letter to the House of Representatives. “I see it as a daily task for everyone involved to keep this relationship as pure as possible, for the independence of all media and of course the public broadcaster as well.”

The Secretary reports that, despite his opinion, the Office of the Vice President continues to support the validity of the information provided.