The Dutch public broadcasting organisation, NPO, has been under considerable pressure lately. Everyone in the Netherlands has to tighten their belt, including the government and, by extension, the broadcasters it funds. The latest news is that the cuts will probably be smaller than expected, but either way, the NPO will have less money available.
The forthcoming round of cuts has already prompted several outcries, not least from the NPO itself. Public broadcasters have aired adverts opposing the cuts, and NOS employees travelled to The Hague to demonstrate, with their travel expenses and salaries paid.
Is this an improper use of taxpayers’ money? The VVD and De Telegraaf, among others, think so; others disagree. And so the debate moves from one incident to the next. What interests me more is the spotlight these threatened cuts put on the NPO as a whole. I only know the Dutch system of ‘pillarisation’ — the historical division of society along religious and ideological lines — from history books. The broadcasters it produced, such as KRO, VARA and NCRV, and the differences between them, therefore mean little to me. Newer broadcasters such as BNN and MAX make programmes I enjoy watching, but I feel no particular connection or emotional attachment to the organisations behind them.
I cannot imagine I am the only person of my generation who feels this way. I do not mind who makes programmes such as Boer Zoekt Vrouw, Heel Holland Bakt or Nieuwsuur, as long as I can watch them. In fact, I could not even name the broadcasters behind them: they barely register with me.
Of course, a diverse range of programmes matters. Every group in Dutch society should have a voice and a chance to be heard and seen. But that need not mean preserving the old-fashioned tangle of broadcasters behind the NPO, with its duplicated roles, offices, editorial teams, administrations and so on. Take the BBC: one organisation with a clear structure, whose programming still offers something for everyone. Savings of this kind could undoubtedly go a long way towards meeting the cuts politicians are asking the NPO to make.
Erik
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