From the HEART

From the
HEART
2
THE QUOTE
MAKING AN
IMPRESSION
How many words does a message
need to make a lasting impression? A radio broadcast? A TV
item? A news story in a paper?
And how much text do we require in an annual report for
some snippets of our DNA, De
Persgroep, to make an impression on you? Below are a series of quotes from a few of
our people who create and
‘colour’ our media day in and
day out.
Willem Schouten,
Deputy Editor,
Het Parool.
‘Deputy Editor at Het
Parool? For me that
means getting up at
daybreak, breathing in
everything that’s new
and making the news on
this fresh day in the city
and then working with
a closely-knit team to
give it such a pressing
slant that by the end
of the morning there’s
a compelling news
magazine that’s a credit
to the illustrious Free,
Unafraid Parool. And it
means doing that day in
and day out.’
Stephan Keygnaert,
Head of Football at
Het Laatste Nieuws.
‘Every day, for 14 years
in a row now, enjoying
going to work is a
privilege for which I
would like to pat De
Persgroep companiably
on the back.’
THE QUOTE
3
Bert Wagendorp
Marian Kin is Editorial Director at Vacature, the De Persgroep
jobs website.
‘When you take your rst drink of Trappist
Westvleteren 12 on a mild September Saturday
afternoon in Zingem, at the bar of Café Sportpaleis.
When your muscles still shake from the rough
ride over the cobblestones and the roof of your
mouth explodes from amazement. When colleague
journalists around you sing the praises of the bicycle
in the language of Arthur “El Toro” Decabooter and
that of Gerrie Knetemann: now that’s happiness.’
‘2011 was an important
turning point for Vacature.
We believed it was time
to start a #blanksheet,
and to write a new
chapter in the story of
the career magazine that
we had started six years
previously. The launch
was planned for the spring
of 2012. The prospect of
innovation immediately
created a new dynamic
amongst our editorial team,
giving us extra energy and
inspiration.’
has been a sports journalist
at de Volkskrant since 1988. He is co-founder
of the literary cycling magazine De Muur and
has written various books about cycle racing.
Laurens Verhagen
Julie Colpaert
‘For as long as I’ve been
working in Internet
journalism (since sometime
back in the last millennium)
we’ve been calling out to
each other: “If you listen to
all of this then that Internet
thing will become massive
one day.” That’s what I keep
doing. The fascinating and
wonderful years to come in
which the big question for De
Persgroep is how the Internet
and newspaper will relate to
each other and to what extent
they will grow towards one
another.’
‘Bring the news to
people, quickly,
clearly and
accurately. That’s
what I do. Every day
is different, and…
I LOVE IT.’
has
been working in online
journalism since the end
of the 1990s, where he’s
made his mark. Since the
spring of 2012 he has
been the new Editor of
vk.nl, trouw.nl, parool.
nl and DeMorgen.be.
started her career
as a journalist
with Q-music and
has now been working as a news correspondent/reporter
for vtm for a good
while already.
Beatrijs Ritsema is a
Dutch social psychologist and writer. As a
columnist she has been
publishing presentday etiquette in Trouw
since 2002.
‘By profession I’m a
columnist. The work is
always the same yet each
day it’s different. Just as
with Love, it’s all about
loyalty.’
4
THE IMAGE
Hans Aarsman, photographer,
writer and columnist for de
Volkskrant, talks about his job
as an expert in photo analysis.
‘SOMETHING HAS TO STRIKE
ME IN THE FIRST INSTANCE.
SOMETHING THAT GOES
AGAINST MY EXPECTATIONS.
THAT’S HOW IT STARTS.’
I
also observe things in the street, but that’s different. With a photo
there’s a frame around reality, so that everything seems to be
connected. That’s the great suggestive power of photography. It
suggests that things belong together. Of course, a photographer is
also an author, in a certain sense, but I don’t take any notice of that.
I just look at what I see.
It makes me happy when I manage to see things differently. Just by
looking I nd a line, a pattern. It just happens. You need to put off
that moment as long as possible. If the facts form a certain pattern,
you no longer see what else is there.
I draw on the same material as the reader, I just pore over it for
longer, and have more experience as a former press photographer.
People often tweet that they don’t agree with what I say. Sometimes
there are some very good observations there.
want to try to nd a form for what I don’t know. I write as I
discover. If I sit and think about it, I get stuck. I want to
incorporate the things I don’t know in my formulations. Don’t
pretend. It starts with naming things. You can thus blur things that
should remain sharp.’
I
Murder of local councillor
Reynaldo Dagsa, Caloocan,
the Philippines,
New Year’s Eve 2010/2011
Photo AFP/handout/Dagsa family
THERE
was no getting away
from it. With all those
cameras in the world, it had to happen
sometime that someone pressed the shutter at
the very moment he was killed.
It’s New Year’s Eve. The Dagsa family is in
the alley behind their house letting off
reworks. It’s dark in the alley, the lights in the
garages on the other side of the street are on, but
do not give enough light. Father Reynaldo has
also turned his car headlights on. Now he can
see the touchpaper of the rework he is about to
light. Just a minute, let’s just take a photo - he
gives the box of matches to his daughter and
points the camera.
Besides being a photographer and councillor,
Reynaldo Dagsa is also a crime-ghter. In this
capacity, six months ago, he had come into
THE IMAGE
conict with the man popping up from behind
his car, just as he is about to take a picture of his
family. He won’t have recognised Arlen
Buenaor. The backlight from the garages, the
backlight from the car headlights and the
viewnder through which he is looking obscure
his view.
Buenaor aims his gun. The same moment as
Dagsa presses the shutter of his camera, the gun
res. Is it the ash reected in the muzzle of the
gun or is it the explosion of the bullet that we
see? In a reex action, Dagsa’s daughter and
wife shut their eyes against the bang. The
killer’s face is lit up in the ash.
The shutter of Dagsa’s camera stays open for
a fraction of a second when he collapses, fatally
wounded. What’s left is beams of light,
reections of the headlights.
5
Although Reynaldo’s mother, wife and
daughter see him collapse immediately after the
bang, they don’t think he has been killed at rst.
It’s New Year’s Eve, bangs can be heard on all
sides. Only when the lm is developed four
days later, do they discover the murderer and
his accomplice. Both are arrested.
6
THE IMAGE
Christophe Floré,
curator Knokke Heist
Cartoon Festival,
on a good cartoon.
‘IF A CARTOON IS TOO
WELL DRAWN, I DON’T
THINK IT’S A GOOD
CARTOON.’
A
‘
cartoon should be smooth, it should look as
if it was created in a single movement.
Almost childlike or coarse. I know more than
anyone how much hard work goes into such a
simple-looking drawing. But the skilfulness of the
drawing must not overshadow the subject, it must
serve the joke. Although the joke mustn’t dominate
the cartoon either. There has to be a combination
of the two. In my view, only a cartoon with the
right balance between joke and drawing is
successful.’
‘Being neutral is rare, and I don’t expect it of a
cartoonist either, it’s right for him or her to take an
opinion to extremes. But I don’t believe you
should be able to tell from a cartoon if its creator is
left or right-wing. That kind of cartoons sometimes
irritates me. I believe a cartoonist should remain
aloof from a subject, pointing out small faults in
life. A cartoonist must apply the saying “the
hardest thing in life is to be consistent” ruthlessly.
THE IMAGE
Zak,
Staff cartoonist at
De Morgen. Also draws for
De Tijd, de Volkskrant,
de Groene Amsterdammer
and Le Point in France.
‘MY MOTIVATION IS NOT
REQUIRED HERE;
I PREFER TO STICK TO
MY DRAWINGS’
A cartoonist must hold up a mirror that says: “If
you’re so against exploiting people, what are you
doing with that iPhone? Have you fallen for the
latest gadget again?” Turning it into a joke makes
it less embarrassing that your principles have
already own out the window by the time you
have your breakfast every day.”
‘I believe the cartoonist ZAK has found the right
balance. His drawing doesn’t overshadow the joke
and the mirror he holds up is merciless, without
losing sight of the joke. Time and time again he
succeeds in exposing our embarassing lack of
principles. So if I have to choose a favourite,
which I don’t like to do, I would have to go for
him.’
Cartoons: ZAK
7
8
THE STORY
Los Angeles
Amsterdam
Brussels
Sydney
Sydney, Brussels, Amsterdam & Los Angeles
979,000 visitors on HLN.be/7sur7.be, the
day HLN.be “broke” with the bus crash in
Switzerland
‘We are always awake’
Wednesday 14 March 2012,
03:31 hrs
HLN.be breaks the news. “28 DEAD INCLUDING 22 CHILDREN IN
ACCIDENT INVOLVING BELGIAN SKI BUS” is the headline. While Belgium
is still asleep, HLN.be’s editorial teams in Los Angeles and Sydney leap into
action. Seeking out extra sources, more information. When Belgium wakes up on
14 March 2012, it gets a full picture of the terrible accident. Nine reports about the
disaster before the working day has begun.
Thursday 10/11/2011.
01:48 hrs
Shock waves in America. Steve Jobs is dead. A nation is in shock. HLN.be’s
editorial team in LA immediately moves into a higher gear. The two hundred or
more TV channels in the USA, most of them news channels, continuously spew
out news. When Belgium and the Netherlands wake up, our websites don’t just
report on the death of the Apple frontman, but also his career, his youth and his
futile battle against his tragic illness.
Every week, from Monday morning to Sunday night.
Dramatic shootings in Norway. Holland qualies for the European
Championships. Death of cyclist Wouter Weyland. Deadly storm at Pukkelpop
festival. Musical frenzy about Pinkpop and Werchter festivals. Nuclear disaster at
Fukushima. Dutch Prime Minister Rutte in trouble. Where the news is, our
websites are there too. It’s hard work always being rst in line. But the bigger the
news, the more visitors, as - certainly in Belgium and perhaps also in the
Netherlands? - we have grown to become the reference news site par excellence.
It takes energy, but it also gives you energy.
Jaap
van ’t Riet
CHIEF ENGINEER
Q-MUSIC
NETHERLANDS
‘I was 13 years old when I rst
entered a radio studio. In a moment
my future became clear. In radio,
that’s where I was going to work.
I never wanted to become a DJ; I
was going to study for a technical
qualication. For me it’s all about
the sound. If you ever hear my voice
on the radio, you know that things
have gone seriously wrong.’
THE FACE
‘IN A MOMENT MY
FUTURE BECAME
CLEAR’
Jaap van ’t Riet
THE FACE
‘VTM IS IN
MY SOUL
AND MY
SOUL IS IN
VTM.’
Dany Verstraeten
THE STORY 11
12 different media picked
up the Joepie article
within 24 hours
A passage from the Joepie interview that suddenly
turned Glenn Claes into a celebrity – even before
he won The Voice Flanders.
Dany
Verstraeten
vtm PRESENTER
‘Vtm is in my soul and my soul is in
@QUESTION: What sort of drugs have you used?
@ANSWER:’I’ve used everything, apart from speed or shooting up.
People often say: it starts with a joint, but where does it end? In
my case with cocaine.’
vtm. It’s only natural as I’ve enjoyed
working for the Flemish commercial
station from the start. Not many
healthy marriages have lasted so
long. You can only work happily for
the same company for 24 years if
there are enough challenges. At vtm
there are because there’s always a
perfect mix of experienced people
and young talent. I provide security
and it feels like I’m now part of
Flemish families. Every evening at
seven o’clock I’m there in their living
rooms - that’s not going to change
any time soon.’
Whether
‘
Glenn Claes would have
won The Voice Flanders
without that infamous article in Joepie is unclear.
It certainly gave his career a boost. The evening
after the article about the singer
ger was published, its
contents were already discussed in detail on the
vtm programme Voor De Show. Why? Glenn
decided to tell Joepie about his experiences with
drugs rst of all. An honest,
onest, intense story about
when he was growing up and his drug addiction.
‘In the section for which
ch we interviewed Glenn,
we always ask questions
ns about when they were
growing up. What did they
hey do when they were 16?’
Editor Christophe Moons
ns obviously put the future
winner of The Voice at his ease; the talented singer
had no problem whatsoever
ever talking about his
harrowing experiences. Editor-in-chief of Joepie,
Sylvia Van Driessche, can
an explain this:
‘He wanted to send a message
ssage to our readers:
drugs mess up your life.’ It wasn’t just Voor
De Show that took the article
ticle up. The day
after the article, almost every
very other Flemish
medium had taken up Glenn’s
enn’s story. In fact
nothing else was being talked
lked about.
THE FACE
“I GIVE
PEOPLE
A VOICE”
Annick Grobben
THE STORY 13
Relocation
in Rotterdam
Annick
Grobben
JOURNALIST
HET LAATSTE
NIEUWS
‘Don’t be satised too quickly, that’s
my motto. I write human stories,
looking for the real story behind the
news. When I was in Greece looking
for victims of the severe austerity
measures, I searched from early in
the morning until late at night. By
following lead after lead I found
the ‘truly’ impressive stories. Often
heartbreaking and unforgettable.
It moves me every time. But I give
people a voice and that still makes
my profession the best profession
in the world.’
Algemeen Dagblad: Marten Meesweg
35, 3068 AV Rotterdam
Rotterdams Dagblad: Westblaak 180
(2nd floor), 3012 KN Rotterdam
New location: Delftseplein 27-k,
3313 AA Rotterdam (West entrance,
10th, 11th and 12th floors)
INTRODUCING Bart van Rossom, facility
manager for de Persgroep Publishing since
December 2006, is responsible for facility
management for the ofce locations of de
Persgroep Publishing, de Persgroep Nederland
and de Persgroep Digital.
RESPONSIBILITIES Day-to-day operational management of locations and
project-based activities such as relocations and
refurbishment projects.
RELOCATING. WHY? ‘I prefer to talk
about rehousing rather than relocation. That’s
because it doesn’t always involve a new address, it can also mean refurbishing an existing
location. The expiration of a lease, growth or
contraction of a department, launching new
projects or the desire to reorganise a senior
editorial team or department can induce the
decision to redesign an editorial department.’
TIMING ‘Journalists work a lot and late, also
on Sundays. This means that the time available
to carry out the relocation is actually very
short: often we only have 36 hours.’
PREPARATIONS ‘A housing project starts
with the choice of the property and negotiations about leases. This is followed by the
operational preparations. We handle everything: up to and including reception in the new
location, parking policy and catering.’
CHANGE ‘People don’t like change and most
people nd moving house unsettling. It helps
if the situation after the move is better than before, and we keep people well-informed during
the preparations.’
MOVES IN 2011 ‘In Belgium, due to lack
of space, we moved the ofces of de Persgroep
Digital to new leased premises. The Finance
department was also refurbished and we began
a game of musical chairs involving departments including Sales, Operations, Marketing
& ICT.’
WHAT ABOUT THE NETHERLANDS? ‘In
the Netherlands we worked all year on moving Het Parool into de Persgroep Nederland
units in the INIT building in Amsterdam. This
involved almost all departments housed in this
property. The editorial team of the newspaper
Utrechts Nieuwsblad was also moved to a new
location, in the centre of the city. The editorial
team of de Persgroep Digital was centralised
in Rotterdam.’
HOW MANY COLLEAGUES DID YOU
MOVE IN 2011? ‘I think it was more or
less 1,030!’
PREPARATIONS IN 2011 ‘For most of
the year we were busy preparing to move
Algemeen Dagblad and Rotterdams Dagblad
to a new location in May 2012. This is a highly
complex project, but so far everything is going
according to plan.
We will set up an ofce for de Persgroep
Digital in Amsterdam in the spring of 2012.
Work on this is going full steam ahead.
Preparations have also been made for redevelopment in Kobbegem. The printworks will
be demolished in 2012/2013; the whole site
will then be redeveloped.’
EVERYONE MOVED ‘After the planned
moves in 2012, we will have rehoused virtually all staff of de Persgroep Publishing, de
Persgroep Nederland and de Persgroep Digital
at least once. Thanks to a fantastic team and
great collaboration with colleagues from the
ICT Department, we can always look back
with satisfaction at the end of every moving
project. Together with a satised customer,
which is of course the most important thing!’
14 THE
STORY
The challenge of
printing in the
21st century
When printer Thomas Verdonckt
completed his training, he
started working with the crème
de la crème straight away.
The KBA Cortina.
T
he printing press at EPC in Lokeren (Belgium) was the
rst waterless offset press with double width and
double circumference in Europe. Sharper print quality,
brighter colours, highest resolution photos. One third
more compact than other presses. Fully automated. And
environmentally friendly as the press uses no water so that no
chemicals are rinsed away.’
When Thomas starts in the morning, he rst of all checks that
the newspaper printed overnight is all right. Then he starts his day.
He works with his colleagues in a noiseless operation room at the
computer that controls the press. When he goes into the printing
hall, he rst has to insert custom-made earplugs to protect him
from the noise. The Cortina turns out 40,000 newspapers an hour.
When the other three presses are also running, 160,000 copies are
printed per hour. A4, magazine format, it doesn’t matter what is
being printed. The Cortina can cope with anything.
Thomas began in the paper vault. Then he became assistant
printer. And now he is training to become a conductor, which
means that he will shortly be responsible for the whole printing
press. This involves more than just pressing buttons on his
computer. ‘He gets his hands dirty if printing goes wrong or the
cooling system doesn’t work properly, for instance. And each
document needs a different paper set-up. It’s just a computer after
all! When it gets stuck, you need to be there.’
Thomas Verdonckt
trainee conductor
for De Persgroep
Gijs Wijnant
HEAD OF READERS
SERVICE,
THE NETHERLANDS
‘When a reader calls or e-mails us,
this is probably the rst time that he
speaks to “the newspaper”. In that
sense this contact is unique. So it
must be more than good. There can
be no excuses. Even if that contact
may be an employee’s hundredth
call of the day. Our readers service
is totally focused on this: each
member of the team has a strong
link with the newspapers we
represent. We cherish a passion for
media, and for the service we want
to and must offer. I believe that is
the only way to work. Every day is a
new day. Give 100 percent.’
THE FACE
‘EACH CUSTOMER
CONTACT MUST
BE GOOD,
THERE CAN BE
NO EXCUSES’
Gijs Wijnant
THE FACE
‘THE OLD LADY
WHO CAN ALSO BE
INNOVATIVE, THAT’S
HOW I SEE L’ECHO’
Martine Maelschalck
Isabel Albers
THE PROFESSION 17
Martine
Maelschalck
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
FOR L’ECHO
‘The old lady who can also be
innovative, that’s how I see L’Echo.
Last year we celebrated her 130th
birthday. I saw once again what
a strong brand L’Echo is. I feel
responsible for her and want her
to remain a strong brand. And she
is, even now that she has become
APPROACHING EACH
DAY WITH
PASSION
multimedia.’
They have caused mayors to re-
Isabel
Albers
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
FOR DE TIJD
sign, interviewed global stars
‘Our articles are now more lifebased, making a conscious link
between the economy and everyday
life. The time when a nancial
newspaper was just for bankers
is long gone. Every day since my
arrival in September, I’ve put my
stamp on our newspaper and our
and survived war zones. They
have made viewers and listeners laugh, or wipe away a
tear. What do our 2,847 staff
share? A passion to always do
their best for their hundreds
of thousands, sometimes mil-
website.’
lions of readers, listeners,
Recently, the two newspapers have
viewers and surfers. Some of
been issued in Berliner format. The
our media makers give you a
world famous designer Mark Porter
supervised the redesign.
glimpse behind the scenes.
ediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakem
18 THE
PROFESSION
‘I’VE BEEN
WITH HET
LAATSTE
NIEUWS AS
LONG AS
I’VE BEEN
WITH MY
WIFE’
‘BEING EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
IS DEFINITELY NOT AN
EASY JOB, BUT A REALLY
GREAT ONE’
WIM VERHOEVEN
ACTING EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF HET LAATSTE NIEUWS
‘Since mid-November 2011, I’ve been acting editor-in-chief of Het Laatste
Nieuws. In other words, I do the honours when Paul Daenen isn’t there. After
fteen years as editor-in-chief, he will become publisher next year and is now
spending more time on Algemeen Dagblad in the Netherlands. As the senior
editorial team of Het Laatste Nieuws get their hands dirty, are always responsible for journalists and always busy with the paper, we need someone to step
in as acting editor-in-chief. If my work meets with general satisfaction, from
the publisher, from the editorial team, from Paul, but also from myself, I will
take up the baton from Paul permanently at the beginning of 2013. Het Laatste
Nieuws is in my blood, I’ve never worked anywhere else. That’s a great
advantage. The senior staff of our paper were all trained by Paul, know each
other really well and live and breathe the paper. We know who we want to be,
what we stand for and where we are going. The bar is set high. There’s a lot of
discussion at high level. We tell each other the good and not so good things.
We have to in order to get better. It would take an outsider a long time to learn
their way around. Are you asking me if it’s an easy job being editor-in-chief?
Denitely not. But it’s a great job. It’s fantastic creating a newspaper for over
a million readers each day with such a great team of people. Being able to
do that with Paul, who is like a father-gure for me and many editors of Het
Laatste Nieuws, makes it extra special for me.’
LUC VAN DER KELEN
POLITICAL COMMENTATOR HET LAATSTE NIEUWS
‘Our big project last year was of course the formation of
the Belgian government. A project that reached a political
climax after 450 days. It turned our whole lives upside
down as political journalists. Every day, we were at the
paper at 11 a.m., but the work didn’t really start until
7 p.m. And it went on deep into the night. Nothing was ofcial, everything was off the record. Working like that for
days on end takes its toll. But it was great, exciting, with
something different every day. It wasn’t normal politics.
It wasn’t about things like pay policy, but about stabbing
people in the back, kicking people when they’re down and
tripping people up. We all saw the standards change. As a
journalist you had to write about it, but you also played a
part. You were drawn into the political conict if you had
written in favour of one candidate or against another. For
someone who’s been around as long as I have, it was like
a rebirth. Every journalist had to prove themselves anew.
It was really gripping. It’s the most intensive period we
have experienced as a political desk. But I’m glad it’s over.
After reporting for 540 days on something that doesn’t
happen, you want to report on something that does. Since
6 December 2011, we’re seen as a normal country again.
And we journalists have our normal lives back too. We’re
now doing portraits of our new ministers, their wives and
children. It could all change again in a year - the newspaper stays while governments come and go. So we are
constantly reborn. And I love that. And have done for a
long time. I’ve been with Het Laatste Nieuws as long as
I’ve been with my wife. I’ve been able to realise my boyhood dreams here. I’m really grateful for that. Het Laatste
Nieuws is a part of me.’
peoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeople
THE PROFESSION
19
‘I WANT TO MAKE
PEOPLE START
EACH DAY WITH
A SMILE’
SVEN ORNELIS
RADIO PRODUCER AT Q-MUSIC BELGIUM ‘Last year we celebrated Q-music’s tenth birthday. With a spectacular celebration in which
we broadcast live music for ten hours. The broadcast came from a very large
TV studio so that many listeners could be there. The celebration was also
called Thanks to you, because without our listeners Q-music would not have
existed for ten years. Together with Kürt Rogiers, my fellow-presenter from
the morning show, I presented six of the ten hours. At Q-music, I made the
rst commercial radio in Belgium. I’ve been doing the morning show for
ten years now and have helped shape it from the start. We’ve been the most
listened-to morning show in the country for about seven years now. It’s still
hard work every day. You have to prepare well, have a detailed analysis
after the show, and not be too easily pleased with the ideas you come up
with. The morning show is the best slot for DJs. It’s what drives the day. But
it’s also where the battle for listening gures takes place. So you can never
rest on your laurels, you have to constantly reinvent yourself and listen to
what your competitors are doing. Otherwise a ‘new kid in town’ will suddenly turn up and steal your listeners with his fresh ideas. I want to make
people start each day with a smile. That’s why we make positive radio that’s
incisive but never cynical. We take the time to inform people properly, so all
ministers and top sportspeople who are in the news are invited to our studio.
But we also want to entertain people. With great stories. Or big radio stunts.
I’ve got loads of ideas. I’ve been making radio since I was ten. I’ve been
getting up at 4 a.m. for it for years. And if it’s up to me I’ll carry on doing it
for a long time, because I believe radio is the most creative medium.’
emakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemake
em
20 THE
PROFESSION
TIM VAN AELST
DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER FROM PRODUCTION COMPANY SHELTER ‘What I love
is giving enjoyment. So laughing at work and
laughing on screen is really important for me. At
Shelter we think up and make TV programmes
such as Benidorm Bastards and Wat Als?. We do
this with a very small team of people. Because
it’s hard to let go of things like developing ideas.
But mainly because I love doing it all myself.
We always start with a very simple idea. We
try to make a really good programme out of it.
That’s our goal and we work towards it with a
huge amount of passion and energy. When we’re
developing an idea, we wake up with it and go to
sleep with it. We work with incredible discipline:
we all start work at 9 a.m. Each detail is important. And we carry on improving a programme
until it arrives on the screen. If people don’t
think it’s funny, that’s OK. Humour is highly
subjective. But it must be perfectly executed.
We often choose trivial subjects and breathe new
life into them. Benidorm Bastards is about the
over-50s, an age group in which society is not
really interested any more. And with Wat Als? we
try to inject new life into the corny sketch show.
I never expected them to be such great successes.
Benidorm Bastards has now been sold to 33
countries. And we won all the foreign TV awards
last year. The greatest of which was of course the
Emmy. For me personally, the Golden Rose was
the most important. It was so unexpected. I sat
there thinking: we won’t win. Then we won in
the comedy category and overall. This year, Wat
Als? was nominated for a Golden Rose. For me
that conrms that our success was no uke.’
‘WHEN WE’RE
DEVELOPING AN
IDEA, WE WAKE UP
WITH IT AND GO
TO SLEEP WITH IT’
peoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeople
THE PROFESSION
21
ANNIEK VAN DEN BRAND
MERIJN HENFLING
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF PS VAN DE WEEK, WEEKLY MAGAZINE
OF HET PAROOL ‘In February 2011 I joined the lively PS van de Week.
I enjoy my job every day. What more could I want? I get to create a magazine about Amsterdam every week. One of the most popular sections of Het
Parool. PS van de Week is about Amsterdammers who give the city its colour.
Famous and non-famous people, from professors to checkout girls. We try to
get as close as possible to the heartbeat of the city. We aren’t a news magazine, but our stories are denitely topical. With an enthusiastic team of people,
we do stories about undercurrents and developments in the city. About social
themes and topical issues. Always with a positive feeling. On Saturday mornings I don’t want to tip a load of misery on the doormat. We embrace the city
while retaining a critical stance. No shortage of ideas. They’re owing here
all the time. Naturally I want to make the best magazine every week. But you
can’t always score ten out of ten. Sometimes it’s frustrating. At the beginning
of December I thought we had the ultimate issue. Everything came together.
Subjects that I was really interested in personally and which spoke to a wide
audience: a good interview with cabaret artist Ronald Goedemondt with
hilarious photos. A tragi-comic personal story about a volunteer who cared for
a lonely elderly person. And ve portraits of Moroccan children celebrating
St Nicholas’ Day, simple stories with photography showing how integration
works: these children all lived together in interiors that were a cross between
Marrakech and Ikea. The mix of subjects in that issue perfectly reected the
range of PS van de Week. With the limited resources at our disposal, I try to
create an ultimate issue like this every week.’
‘NO SHORTAGE OF
IDEAS.
THEY’RE
FLOWING
HERE ALL
THE TIME’
EDITOR AND COLUMNIST FOR TIJD,
NEW WEEKLY MAGAZINE WITH TROUW
‘Launching a new magazine is fantastic. Not jumping on a bandwagon but blazing your own trail. Tijd
is about life and experiences, with the underlying
concept that life is a gift to be treasured. It doesn’t tell
you how to live your life, but how life presents itself,
with all the joy and pain that involves. We do this with
journalistic articles, contributions from well-known
writers and strong photography. Professionalism,
an open mind, humour, a healthy dose of common
sense and friendliness are the pillars of the editorial policy. The people who work on Tijd understand
what the magazine stands for, but each tackle subjects
from a different angle. Because we all have different
backgrounds: one is a man and one a woman, one
has children and the other doesn’t. Diversity makes
it great. To create a fascinating magazine you need to
keep your ears and eyes open at all times. And keep
on asking yourself: what moves people, what are they
talking about and can I make a story out of it? I do
the same for my weekly column on family matters.
But here too I ask myself those questions. They seem
to be very personal pieces, but the letters and emails
from readers show that I often put into words things
that concern them. Creating Tijd is exciting and
varied. Every morning I whistle as I cycle to work
and come back with a head full of stories, ideas and
plans. And when all the pieces fall into place at the
end of the week, I’m a very happy person. I think
it’s fantastic that De Persgroep has condence in the
future and shows this by investing in great magazines.
We haven’t experienced so much commitment and
optimism in years.’
‘WHEN
ALL THE
PIECES
FALL INTO
PLACE,
I’M A VERY
HAPPY
PERSON’
emakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemake
em
22 THE
PROFESSION
‘WHEN YOU’RE BUSY
WITH A NEWSPAPER
DAY AND NIGHT, IT
BECOMES LIKE A
CHILD’
FRANK VAN ZIJL
EDITOR OF DE VOLKSKRANT, CURRENTLY CHIEF SUBEDITOR AT DE MORGEN FOR TWO YEARS ‘After 28 years at de
Volkskrant it’s nice to get a breath of fresh air. It all started with a phone
call from Jaak Smeets, executive editor of De Persgroep. They needed
someone with a lot of experience who could take the editorial team
and the paper a step further. Would I like to come to Brussels for a few
years? I doubted it was the best solution: a Dutch person at a Belgian
title. After all, as chief sub-editor, you have to know not just the paper,
but the country inside out. And to be honest, Flemish is a totally different language. But my bosses at De Persgroep didn’t see any problem.
And that’s how I came to be in Brussels in the autumn of 2011. De Morgen’s editorial team seemed somewhat disorganised at the time. Work-
ing closely with the editor-in-chief, I soon took the necessary action.
Making a newspaper involves a whole series of consultation phases and
deadlines. We now work tightly to them. The paper now has a new look
that has attracted a lot of praise. I coach and train the sub-editors and
give news courses just as I did at de Volkskrant. And so we are gradually
making progress. What are the greatest differences between the Belgians
and the Dutch? Jaak Smeets once said that they can make newspapers
in Belgium, while the best writing talents are in the Netherlands. I know
what he means. I’m in awe of the knowhow and skills they have here.
The most important thing for me is that I feel at home here. I now feel
like an honorary Belgian. And I feel I belong more to De Morgen than
de Volkskrant. I miss my colleagues in Amsterdam, but when you’re
busy with a new paper day and night, it becomes like a child.’
peoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeople
THE PROFESSION
23
‘AS A SMALL BOY,
I WAS ALREADY
MAKING MY OWN
NEWSPAPERS’
BAS SOETENHORST
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST FOR
HET PAROOL AND AUTHOR OF HET
WONDER VAN DE NOORD/ZUIDLIJN
(THE MIRACLE OF THE NORTH-SOUTH
LINE)
‘As a young boy I read Voetbal International
(Dutch soccer magazine). Many footballers had
turned their hobby into their career. I didn’t
manage to do that with football. Then I tried
with my newspaper hobby. My father was a
journalist and we took six newspapers at home.
I read them all. The sport of course. I cut out
all of the articles about the same matches and
used them to make my own collage, using
photos and captions below. That’s how I made
my own newspapers. And that’s what I still do.
It’s still great. As a journalist at Het Parool I’ve
followed the events surrounding the NorthSouth Line, a controversial metro line under
construction from the north to the south of
Amsterdam.
Following a series of articles in 2008, a
publisher knocked on my door asking if I
wanted to write a book. I hesitated. The outline
of the story was already well-known and I
didn’t like the idea of writing a book with
nothing new in it. But I wanted to bring things
into the open. That’s what gets me started. But
when I began writing the book, I realised it was
going to be my best yet. Winning the Loep in
2011, for the best work in Dutch and Flemish
investigative journalism, and the M.J. Brusse
prize, for the best journalistic book, conrmed
this. And I would be lying if I said I didn’t care
about such prizes. Barbara van Beukering,
editor-in-chief of Het Parool, didn’t exactly
leap at the idea when I told her about my plans
for the book. Understandably, as my energy
would be temporarily diverted away from the
newspaper into a different project. But now
I’m still gaining every day from the expansion
of my network, knowledge and experience. At
Het Parool, I’m also going to apply myself
more to writing background stories. The
success of investigative books such as De Prooi
(on the ABN Amro takeover), De
Vastgoedfraude and my own proves that readers
are interested in this. And for a newspaper it’s a
good way to stand out.’
emakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemake
em
24 THE
PROFESSION
MERIJN RENGERS
ELLEN VAN GAALEN
JOURNALIST FOR AD ROTTERDAMS DAGBLAD ‘I’m still fairly
new to the profession. This is only my fourth year. Last year my area was
Schiedam. Through my network I got a tip-off from a resident. About
the attachment of the mayor’s mortgage. I then wrote a piece about it,
following which many more tip-offs came in about abuses by the mayor.
Then my colleague Carel van der Velden joined in. He’s much more
experienced than me. We talked to lots of residents and ofcials. More
and more things came to light. So much that I was quite shocked by it.
The shock was actually what drove me to carry on. At rst, our publications mainly focused on personal matters, but later they also reported on
the mayor’s political dealings. You expect politicians to take up the baton
from you, but they got annoyed at us instead. Finally, an investigation was
launched. The results of this corresponded to what we had found. And
resulted in the resignation of the mayor. I’m proud of having exposed such
great abuse. Isn’t it absurd that someone so corrupt can hold public ofce
in the Netherlands? Of course, you don’t just stumble across this type of
news. We worked really hard on it for months. You need your sources and
your network. But it’s also a combination of circumstances. It was great to
work with Carel. It was such a big story. And I was a bit uncertain. Am I
doing it right? Am I writing everything down right? Carel was a very good
back-up. I’m now the reporter at the city hall in Rotterdam. I’m still naive
enough to think that everything is better organised there. But when I get
the chance to delve into something, I do.’
‘WHEN I GET
THE CHANCE
TO DELVE INTO
SOMETHING, I DO’
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST FOR
DE VOLKSKRANT
‘The crazy thing is that, after more than nine years at de
Volkskrant, it’s still hard to tell if something will take off.
Every subject, every story is different. And there’s also
an element of chance. But when things do take off, as last
year with our revelations about Inholland University of
Applied Sciences, they suddenly do so really quickly. It’s
crazy when you’re in the midst of it. You don’t often get
that kind of rush. Most of the time you just get on with
your work. Sit in roadside restaurants, talking to people.
Consulting public sources. Then you call someone. In less
than half of cases this results in a story. The rst piece
about a subject is always the most difcult. Once you have
published that, you’re well away. Then it gets really good.
And it’s really brilliant if you manage to expose everything. That happened with Inholland. That was partly a
uke. But it was also just telling the story really well. And
it had a huge impact. We won the Tegel for it - the most
prestigious prize for journalism. That says something. But
at any given time you know how things stand. I’m happy
that I can type away about something else. That’s what is
great about the job too. You always start with nothing. You
have a pen and a phone. You have to make it happen. Getting to the bottom of things is really hard work. You often
work outside ofce hours. Especially if, like me, you want
to speak to real people. Nine out of ten times the reality
is served up for us by spokespeople and spin-doctors. But
that’s not for me. I want to show how the world really
ticks.’
‘YOU HAVE
A PEN AND
A PHONE.
YOU HAVE
TO MAKE IT
HAPPEN.’
peoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeoplemakemediamakepeople
THE PROFESSION
BART ALLEMAN
DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF DAG ALLEMAAL ”The editorial
team of Dag Allemaal is truly united. There’s a very strong sense of
unity in the team. We work hard but laugh a lot too. My role in all this?
Well, everything... Leading people, contributing ideas, discussing things
with the editor-in-chief, making sure there’s a good mix of articles, and
so on. We sometimes organise brainstorming afternoons at our editor-inchief Ilse’s house at weekends. Once again, we laugh a lot but we end up
with a whole range of ideas on paper. Our main aim with Dag Allemaal
25
is to entertain Flanders, which sounds much simpler than it is. It annoys
me when Dag Allemaal is described as a “gossip mag” or “sensationalist”. Take the wedding photos of Marie-Rose Morel, who was terminally
ill at the time, which we published as an exclusive, accompanied by her
story. We handled this in a sensitive and very correct way - serene and
beautiful. With every respect for her and her loved ones. We received
a lot of compliments for this, some from unexpected quarters. And I’m
proud of something like that - even after 27 years!”
‘EVEN
AFTER
27 YEARS,
I’M STILL
PROUD ‘
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em
26 THE
STORY
Eefje Oomen
JOURNALIST
FOR AD
‘I went back to being a reporter
last year. Before that I was senior
editor of AD. I found management a
ICT facts and always
that one question
How much data has De Persgroep stored? An improbable
amount, it turns out. And what is the question posed
most frequently to our three helpdesks? (You have
most certainly posed it yourself once.)
160 ICT STAFF In 2011, 160 ICT staff
worked for De Persgroep, 115 in Belgium and 45
in the Netherlands. External staff joined the teams
for major projects.
3,500 COMPUTERS In 2011, staff of De
Persgroep used over 3,500 computers, including
800 Macs and 2,700 PCs. Six hundred
workstations (computers) are replaced each year.
TWINS In Kobbegem there are the ‘Twin Data
Centers’, two complete data centers where all data
from De Persgroep is stored. If one data center
fails, the other immediately becomes fully
operational and no data is lost. This is tested twice
a year in a so-called ‘fail over’ test. The
preparations for this take almost one month.
BUNKERS Both data centers are housed in
underground bunkers measuring 150 square metres
each, situated over 100 metres apart.
TOP SCORE All servers and storage units
combined consume about €150,000 worth of
electricity each year. Both centers comply with the
most advanced ecological standards.
300 BILLION PAGES Within De Persgroep
as a whole, 612 terabytes of data are stored. This is
equal to a 300-billion-page book
IT’S NOT WORKING... Overall, in 2011,
De Persgroep’s three helpdesks handled:
• 14,602 incidents
• 13,572 requests
MOST MEMORABLE EVENT IN
2011 Water detected in the data center. Following
a downpour in Kobbegem, the drains in the street
and on site were unable to drain away sufcient
water and the water owed into the buildings.
BRINGING BACK WITHIN THE
COMPANY In the Netherlands, all ICT, from
workplace equipment to data servers, was housed
with an external party, Getronics. As from April
2011, this is all housed internally within De
Persgroep once more.
This project took over eighteen months and
involved a total investment of €15 million. As a
result, ICT costs were reduced by over €14
million per year (2009 gures compared with the
forecast for 2012).
APPLICATIONS Around 400 different
programs run within De Persgroep.
WEBSITES De Persgroep maintains 30
websites. These include the websites of the
newspapers and magazines, such as
www.volkskrant.nl and www.demorgen.be.
12 TERABYTES PER DAY Every day,
De Persgroep pumps 12 terabytes onto the internet.
Subscribers to the iPad editions of the newspapers
guzzle particularly large amounts of data. De
Persgroep’s ow of data to the internet peaks at 15
gigabytes a second.
nice challenge, for a few years, but
deep down I’m a journalist at heart.
I have the urge to get out there.
Visiting extraordinary people, that’s
what I really missed as senior editor.
Now that I have the chance again,
I’m not just looking for hard news.
Background and depth, a special
angle, that’s what I’m looking for.
Basically, I’m still a newshound: the
familiar alarm bell rings when news
is in the air. It’s an addiction. And I’ll
never be cured of it.’
THE FACE
‘BACKGROUND
AND DEPTH,
THE UNUSUAL
APPROACH,
THAT’S WHAT I’M
LOOKING FOR’
Eefje Oomen
THE FACE
‘THE RISING STAR AWARD.
WOW. I DIDN’T SEE THAT
ONE COMING.’
Jonas Van Geel
THE STORY
29
Kabul
Jonas Van Geel
ACTOR,
COMEDIAN AND
MUSICAL STAR.
His claims to fame
include the comic TV
programme Tegen de
Sterren Op (vtm).
‘The Rising Star Award. Wow. I
didn’t see that one coming. Of
course, 2011 was a year in which
everything was turned on its head
for me. The year I swapped dark,
small podiums for sold-out theatres
and TV programmes. Suddenly I
was a Famous Fleming and the
cherry on the cake was when I won
this award. Unreal. I’ve worked
hard for it, that’s for sure. I’ve just
had my rst holiday in a year, I
really needed it. I’m already fully
booked for this year. But I’m not
complaining: in July I’m setting off
for a hot country to lm some new
TV programmes. The location and
‘I stay because
I like it’
Natalie Righton
de Volkskrant
correspondent in
Afghanistan and Pakistan
since January 2010.
Location: Kabul.
DON’T YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO ANSWER
THE SAME QUESTIONS AT PARTIES?
‘That’s right. And they’re rarely about the political
situation in Afghanistan. It’s always: Is it dangerous
working in Afghanistan? As a woman can you go
out alone? I don’t mind that. My job is to show
exactly what’s going on. If I can do that by talking
about myself, that’s OK. As long as the story is
told.’
YOUR ARTICLES ARE OFTEN ABOUT
PEOPLE IN THE STREET, THE
‘ORDINARY’ AFGHAN. ‘I could write a
complex analysis, but then I would reach less
people. I recently spoke to a small boy whose
school bus had just been hit by a stray missile from
the Taleban. He and his brothers had only just
survived. A story like that says a lot about the
situation here and more people read it.’
WHY DON’T YOU WORK SAFELY AS AN
EMBEDDED JOURNALIST? ‘If you want to
know what’s going on, you need to get out and
about. I feel I have a good insight into the fears and
feelings of Afghans. I base this on dozens of
conversations. Last week I was on a hill in Kabul
where all sorts of people were sitting picnicking. I
spoke to each of them individually. A farmer, a
translator working for ISAF, a construction worker.
When all these people say that things are not going
well, it can’t be a coincidence.’
HOW LONG WILL YOU KEEP ON IN THIS
SITUATION? ‘I stay because I like it. Journalism
is in my soul and it’s a great honour to be able to do
this. Now and then I need to recharge my batteries
in Holland. Then I almost feel guilty about nding
happiness again, unlike my Afghan friends who
have no prospects whatsoever.’
setting are still a secret of course.
That’s what you get when you’re
famous, ha ha, secrets!’
Fragment from the article
‘Gezicht van Taliban
in Kunduz’ (The face of
the Taleban in Kunduz):
Natalie Righton,
de Volkskrant,
3 October 2011
(…) In the juvenile detention centre in Kunduz we
meet Nader Shah (16). According to the police,
Nader is a ‘bloodthirsty Taleban ghter’, but when
we nd him he looks like a nervous teenager. He
giggles when he answers our questions. Nader was
arrested this spring because he was going to blow
himself up in Kunduz city. The aim was to kill as
many ‘foreigners’ as possible. He was recruited
when he was 11.
Why did Nader join the Taleban? ‘I was a child
when my uncle took me from Kunduz to a Koran
school in Pakistan. Taleban came there to talk
about jihad. My teacher preached every day about
suicide bombings, paradise and the virgins waiting
for us there.’ He says his parents knew nothing
about that. Nader was ‘chosen’, the only boy in the
Koran school who was ready for an attack, his
teacher told him one evening. Nader nodded.
The next day he was taken back to Kunduz by two
men and was shown a bomb belt in a mosque.
When he pressed the ‘button’, he would go to
paradise, they told him. Nader was delighted. Now
he often dreamed about paradise. All he had to do
was wait for the right time, his guides told him.
They wanted him to blow up foreigners: that took
a lot of time to prepare. In the month when he was
waiting, Nader woke up each morning with the
idea that he would blow himself up. (...)
30 THE
STORY
Hugo Camps is a Belgian journalist, columnist and writer. He
is published in both Belgium and
the Netherlands and has written several books about football
and cycling in particular. Every
day, his column appears on the
front page of De Morgen. This
was also the case on Thursday
15 March 2012, the day after the
bus crash in Switzerland.
A DELICATE MATTER
‘
I’ve
been writing a column on the front page of De
Morgen for over ten years - every day for the last
two years. I talk about the news, alternating with subjects such
as the arts and philosophical observations. On 14 March, the
day on which we heard about the fatal bus crash in Switzerland,
there was only one possible subject. I heard about it in the
morning on the radio. There was no other news that day, not for
me anyway. Nothing mattered any more. Cycling, politics,
everything became unimportant. The whole country was hurt by
the accident.
Writing was more difcult than ever that day, and rightly so.
There was so much human suffering, so much uncertainty,
parents who didn’t know if their child was alive or dead. It
made my work a delicate matter and I spent a long time looking
for the right angle. The editor-in-chief suggested we print the
text on an empty page and I was grateful for that. The plain
layout was in keeping with the situation. After all there are no
words for such great sorrow. I still wrote the column, and some
after that, because I have the illusion that a few words can heal,
can bind people together. There was a lot of reaction. None of it
was negative. The cynicism of journalism means that you have
to go back to reporting on the world a few days later. You can’t
keep writing about it all week - it doesn’t help. I wrote another
column on the day of the funeral. Then I thought it was
enough.’
On 13 March 2012 a Belgian bus carrying
children from Lommel and Heverlee crashed
in a tunnel on a motorway in Switzerland.
28 people died, including 22 children.
Death and happiness
don’t go together
Tragedy
They had fun in the snow and skiing. Laughing and
rolling around in the sunshine, free and carefree, just
like children of 12 are. The class feeling was heightened further. Happy children on their way home.
Death cannot be associated with happiness.
In the Swiss tragedy we instantly became a unified
country once more. Everyone united with the victims
and the bereaved, with the traumatised injured and
the dead. As Ingrid Lieten said: ‘There are no ministers and no members of parliament any more, we are
all just fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters.
To paraphrase Jacques Brel:
‘I can’t watch a child die.’
I heard just how very difficult it was for emergency
workers in the deathly chaos.
One said: ‘There was complete silence in the bus,
the children were not even crying anymore.’
We don’t often give it a thought, but doctors and
emergency workers also break down with these
kinds of horrors.
The parent’s pain is endlessly unbearable.
The mere gnawing and later terrible uncertainty about
the fate of their child. The burning helplessness of not
knowing. There are, indeed, no words for that.
On this black Wednesday there was nothing more
important than this.
Dreams and ambitions hidden away in 22 small coffins.
You’d prefer not to exist for a moment.
Not knowing anymore, not talking anymore.
Hugo Camps
32 IDEAS
FACTORY
READY FOR THE
PRESENTATION?!
Every day the various media of De Persgroep reach 9.2 million people in Belgium and the Netherlands. Informing,
inspiring and entertaining all of those readers, viewers and surfers is not just a ‘profession’, it’s also our live,
our passion. Every day we strive to achieve the best, whilst at the same time knowing that perfection
does not exist in our profession. In the following playful series of photographs we portray the daily
search for the ‘best’ idea with a wink. The winner can present his or her idea to the Board. So,
if you thought the Ideas Factory was just ctional then think again…
With its high-prole
scoops and interviews,
Dag Allemaal reaches
1,702,000 readers every
week. This makes Dag
Allemaal the leader in
the Flemish magazine
market and the most
read magazine in
Belgium.
IDEAS FACTORY
33
With a paid circulation
On 5 November 2011
of 246,607 copies
Vitaya celebrated its rst
De Volkskrant is
anniversary under the
the market leader
VMMa umbrella. Since the
of the Dutch quality
acquisition this lifestyle
newspapers. Each day
station has achieved steady
812,000 people read
growth. Thanks to a fresh
De Volkskrant. 55% are
look & feel and a new
highly educated, 13%
website the market share has
are student.
increased from 4.7% in 2010
to 5.9% in 2011.
34 IDEAS
FACTORY
The DNA of Vitaya
was strengthened
in 2011 with new
Flemish productions.
Cooking and lifestyle
formed the most
important pillars
within the lifestyle
spectrum of the
station. From February
2011 the viewers
were pampered with
a hearty portion of
new home and interior
programmes.
IDEAS FACTORY
Goed Gevoel is the most
read and most sold monthly
magazine in Flanders;
produced by women for
women. Each month the
magazine reaches 518,000
readers and focuses on the
active woman aged between
35 and 45 who, in addition
to the family, also wants time
and attention spent on her
life, her health and on herself.
35
36 IDEAS
FACTORY
NINA, the showpiece
‘Are we not all a bit of
of the weekend paper
slave to the music? The
Het Laatste Nieuws,
smile’s included for free!’
celebrated its fth
anniversary in May 2011.
The NINA readers, aged
between 30 and 35, are
surprised every week
with strong cover stories
and unique reports.
IDEAS FACTORY
JOE fm was three years old on
1 April 2012. The second radio
station of the Vlaamse Media
Maatschappij gave away its
birthday party to listener Bjorn
De Vuyst. His surprise party
was attended by a lot of other
listeners and received a lot of
coverage in other media.
Volkskrant
magazine appears
every Saturday in
De Volkskrant and
on average reaches
848,000 readers
per edition. In 2012
De Volkskrant will
be unwrapping a
revamped glossy
magazine.
37
38 IDEAS
FACTORY
The showbiz magazine TV
Familie also turned out to be
a dynamic magazine in 2011
with high-prole campaigns
and candid life stories. And
with a bit of luck, you also
found the pumps of your
dreams.
IDEAS FACTORY
No less than 438,000
people use VKbanen.nl
in their search for a new
job. 59,1% of the visitors
of this interactive career
platform are between 25
and 45 years old.
The Algemeen
Dagblad is market
leader in the
Randstad with a
paid subscription of
405,973. 75% Of its
readers live in this
economic heart of
the Netherlands.
39
40 IDEAS
FACTORY