Van Nieuwkerk and the director of NPO participate in a research on work culture

“We want to talk to them extensively and it will happen,” committee chairman Martin van Rijn told the NPO Met Het Oog Op Morgen radio program last night. “They are very willing to do that.” The Broadcaster Behavior and Culture Investigation Committee (OGCO) is investigating what happens behind the scenes at the nonprofit after abuses were reported.

Public broadcasting under surveillance

The affair was revealed by an article in the Volkskrant at the end of last year. The working culture within Matthijs van Nieuwkerk’s NPO DWDD program has been said to be appalling.

The investigation was widened when further reports arrived within days of similar cases across the public broadcaster. NPO director Frans Klein then temporarily resigned pending the investigation. Klein has been involved with the popular television program on behalf of broadcaster VARA for nine years.

Van Rijn told Met Het Oog Op Morgen that he was impressed with the impact cross-border behavior in Hilversum had on some victims.

“Always full of emotions”

“It has a very lasting effect on people who have experienced this behavior, even if it was a long time ago,” said the chairman of the commission of inquiry. “There are still a lot of emotions, even things that happened years ago. They have such an impact, people still feel so many emotions when they think back to that time.”

Van Rijn emphasizes that the investigation must be carried out quickly, but above all carefully. A spokesperson for Matthijs van Nieuwkerk had previously announced that he would cooperate with the investigation.