Culture Council positive on cabinet plans public broadcaster

The Council for Culture endorses the need for radical changes to the public broadcasting system and is positive about the course proposed by the government. The council does, however, give a number of points of attention for further elaboration, such as how the NTR's statutory tasks can be carefully safeguarded. This is stated in a letter to Minister Eppo Bruins of Education, Culture and Science. In the letter, the advisory body of government and parliament gives a reaction to the broadcasting plans announced by the cabinet last Friday.

"In our opinion, the government's broadcasting letter provides a good basis for reforming the system. It will be simplified and bring peace of mind. The council understands that further elaboration is needed and is happy to give a number of points for this," said chairman Kristel Baele in a reaction. "Especially in these times, the Netherlands needs a robust and stable public broadcaster. This requires not only structural change, but also culture change. That requires a careful process. We hope to make a constructive contribution with this letter. The council is happy to contribute further thoughts on this."

The council had previously noted that the broadcasting system in its current form, in which new member broadcasters can always join, is not future-proof. It did so inter alia in its advice on broadcasting approvals from 2021 and its reflection on new criteria for recognising broadcasters. The council considers a robust public broadcaster important, especially in these times, in which objective and reliable news provision goes hand in hand with making the pluriformity of society visible. 

The council understands that the plans are causing a stir among employees of the broadcasters, but is convinced that far-reaching adjustments are necessary to make the system future-proof. That some adjustments will not be favourable to all concerned is unfortunately unavoidable, the council argues.

An important point for the council is safeguarding NTR's statutory tasks and high-quality offerings in the areas of culture, education and news provision. The council points out that NTR not only makes offerings aimed at minorities and education, but also, for example, offerings of a cultural nature. These tasks also include providing background information and considering political-social developments.

The council sees many advantages in the plan to merge existing broadcasters into a limited number of broadcasting houses, which no longer need to have a compulsory number of members. This is more efficient, provides a stronger basis for the social security of employees and opportunities to better reflect changes in society. In doing so, the council believes it is important to have clear criteria regarding content, with which to monitor the quality of the newly established broadcasting houses and NPO.

In the elaboration, the division of roles between broadcasting houses and NPO deserves attention. Here, direction and coordination of supply is important and how this can take place without leading to extra administrative pressure. How to bring forward as many different voices from society as possible requires further elaboration. Finally, given the changed viewing and listening behaviour, the council calls attention to the need for far-reaching digital transition.