The youngest foundation with 'impressive means of power'

Stichting RTL Nieuws is the newcomer to the stable. Its role is to ensure that RTL's news platform remains independent and freely accessible, even after the takeover by DPG Media. Chairman Arendo Joustra: 'We are a purring cat with the claws of a lion.'

Mocro Maffia, Gooische Vrouwen, Máxima; the paid streaming service Videoland has many popular Dutch series and programs in its catalog, as well as around a thousand international titles. An attractive part of the business in the acquisition of RTL Nederland.

There were more fears for the journalistic branch. RTL Nieuws provides free news on TV, online, and on social media. Less lucrative, but of great importance, according to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). It would not be good for the Dutch media landscape if RTL Nieuws were to die a quiet death. A new media foundation as guardian was therefore a strict condition for the acquisition. This has been in place since October 2025 under the leadership of Arendo Joustra, former editor-in-chief of Elsevier (now EW Magazine).

You were asked to be chairperson. Why did you say yes?
'I have always been a big supporter of commercial television. We think it's perfectly normal for newspapers to be privately owned, but I find it a bit strange that television news has to be provided automatically by the government, via the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (Public Broadcasting Service). It's actually healthy for a commercial – ‘private’ – broadcaster to present good news too. Look, it could be a factor: he who pays the piper calls the tune. The government and the press are opponents in the news, which is part of a healthy democracy. RTL Nieuws offers a counterbalance and can express itself freely on any subject without any government interference.'

Isn't commercial TV once again under the thumb of advertisers?
'You don't think that about newspapers, and advertisers themselves don't want that, in my experience at Elsevier. Imagine writing that Mercedes is the best car in the world while Mercedes is advertising with you. That creates an impression of unreliability. Advertisers pay precisely for an environment that readers and viewers know to be independent.'

You yourself were editor-in-chief of Elsevier for a quarter of a century — a center-right publication, not neutral.
'At that time, I was also chairman of the Genootschap van Hoofdredacteuren (Society of Editors-in-Chief). I am used to thinking outside my own political persuasion. We all produce quality journalism and can work together to preserve our pluralistic, independent press, for example in our position towards the Public Prosecution Service or the Royal House.'

RTL Nieuws occupies a special place in the journalistic landscape, says editor-in-chief lse Openneer. What is that place?
'Precisely because broadcasters and newspapers have an ideological background due to the pillarization of Dutch society, it is so refreshing that RTL Nieuws is independent. It is not affiliated with any religious denomination or political movement. It also attracts a completely different type of viewer than NOS Journaal. Often people who don't read newspapers and are therefore very dependent on RTL television news. It is privately owned, but free—that is its identity. And you can't say that about newspapers. They are valuable, but RTL Nieuws fits in well alongside them.'

How is your relationship with the editors(-in-chief)?
'That still needs to develop, for example by catching up every quarter, but I imagine that we will mainly assist the chief editor on request. I know from experience that that position can sometimes be lonely. You have a publisher, a director, an editorial board, but sometimes you want to bounce ideas off someone outside those circles. You can do that with us. We're really there to help. An editor-in-chief doesn't want someone else meddling in everything.'

The foundation has only three board members and owns a small minority share. Can you really make an impact?
Laughs: 'We are a cat purring in the sun, but with the claws of a lion. Together with the other foundations, we have impressive means of power, which even the foundation of NRC envies. Not only do we have a priority share together with Stichting Democratie en Media, we also have a say in the appointment of the editor-in-chief. And if DPG does not properly inform us about the agreements it made with the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) when it acquired RTL Nieuws, we are also authorized to call in the ACM to bring DPG to order.'

The takeover is complete, the companies have been integrated. You're not going to back out now, are you?
'Look, it's important for the Netherlands to have a large media group with independent, multimedia news platforms so that we are in a strong position against foreign or American tech companies. When people were concerned about the merger between DPG and RTL, I thought: you're only looking at the Netherlands. Soon you'll be bought by a German (media) company, just like our energy companies. It's better to be too strong for takeovers. But with a legally protected identity that the ACM enforced: remaining a freely accessible, independent news platform, so that we also remain pluralistic within DPG. Perhaps even more important is that we, as a foundation, must agree to the sale or discontinuation of RTL Nieuws. Fortunately, none of that is on the table right now.'

Is it impossible for editors within DPG to share content with other titles?
'There is only a Chinese wall between NU.nl and RTL Nieuws, because the former should not become the website of the latter. Otherwise, collaboration is a choice made by the editor-in-chief. Just look at the revelation of the Toeslagenaffaire by RTL Nieuws and Trouw. Or how many people do you send to the World Cup, for example? If you prefer to follow one player from your region and take other news from each other in consultation, that's fine, of course. But it's not imposed by DPG.'