After the release of the investigation into abuses at the NPO, the cesspool was opened up even more by the AD on Wednesday evening. Yesterday it was revealed that a culture of fear has existed at WNL for years, ever since broadcaster Bert Huisjes was employed. Eva Jinek, once one of the faces at WNL, also shared her experiences for the research. She said she did all this to create a more “normal” working environment for the young journalists, who are mainly affected by this.
Eva Jinek responds to abuses by broadcaster WNL
At the time the Van Rijn Commission’s investigation was released, it was already clear that something was not going well, especially at WNL. They were the most negative in the research report: they most often scored 5 or lower for job satisfaction. Ouch… Former presenters Merel Westrik, Roos Moggré, Leonie ter Braak and Eva Jinek must also have been shocked by this. Together with 21 other involved parties, they went to AD to share their experiences with the public broadcaster. This then shows that a culture of fear has existed for years, ever since broadcaster Bert Huisjes was employed. We are therefore talking about a period of more than ten years. He joined WNL in 2011.
As mentioned, Eva also had to deal with Bert’s misconduct, she told the AD. “It is not without reason that I worked there for such a short time,” says Eva. She would rather not say anything about what exactly she experienced, she later said in the NTR radio program Kunststof. “I don’t think it makes sense for me to go into detail about that,” she explains to presenter Andrew Makkinga. “It’s been more than twelve years since I worked there. But you have to imagine that young journalists are still working there, like I was at the time.” That is why she thought it was important to participate in the research.
Create a “normal” working environment
Eva calls it “not normal” that 94 percent of (former) employees at NPO have themselves been victims or witnesses of inappropriate behavior. After the investigation, she is called by the media and they also ask for her experiences with WNL in particular. “I had to admit that I recognized all the experiences I was told,” she says. She mainly does this for the young journalists who currently work for the public broadcaster. “I believe that young people who work in public broadcasting should be able to function in a normal working environment,” she explains. Eva calls a workplace where people are “regularly bullied and intimidated” not a normal working environment. “And that is your first responsibility as a boss, that it doesn’t happen like that,” says Eva.
Eva herself is now working on her own talk show for NPO1. As a talk show presenter, she of course also has her own team, which she feels responsible for. “I feel that even more after everything that happened,” she says. “But I don’t have to think about whether I am normal towards people. That’s just how I was raised. How I always deal with people.” She automatically treats other people with respect and therefore does not have to check with herself whether she is intimidating someone. “In the end it’s very simple: just act normal.”
Taking victims seriously
Meanwhile, WNL’s supervisory board says it is “lucky” with broadcaster Bert, according to a statement. They say that like any other human being, “of course he is not without sins”, but he has achieved a lot. After a difficult start, broadcaster WNL has “grown into a strong journalistic organization” under his leadership. They do call it “shameful” that former employees have had such unpleasant experiences with the broadcaster.
The College of Broadcasters is not happy with the council’s response. “Before you take any steps, it is of the utmost importance that you acknowledge the victims and take them seriously,” said chairman Arjan Lock. Mariëtte Hamer, government commissioner for sexual misconduct, also thinks it is not a good response. She would like the public broadcasters to jointly make firm agreements on how these types of reports are handled in Hilversum. The College of Broadcasters also says: “It is time that we in Hilversum consider the people as important as the content.”
