{"id":168639,"date":"2024-05-30T16:32:22","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T14:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=168639"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:22","slug":"minister-dijkgraaf-praises-independent-journalism-in-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/05\/30\/minister-dijkgraaf-praises-independent-journalism-in-higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister Dijkgraaf praises independent journalism in higher education"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s vital that news editors at higher education institutions can operate independently\u201d, outgoing Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf has told the House of Representatives. He calls on the executives of these institutions to safeguard that independence.<\/p>\n

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Editors of Erasmus Magazine during the annual Eurekaweek information market.<\/span><\/p>

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\u201cWe see worrying signs of the worsening harassment of journalists working in independent university media\u201d, NSC politician Rosanne Hertzberger said in discussion with the minister last night. \u201cWe hear of journalists being denied access to public meetings and university executives ordering editors to remove articles.\u201d<\/p>\n

She sees this as an alarming trend. \u201cThere is a real danger that all university reporting will be reduced to shiny glossies full of upbeat stories. To paraphrase George Orwell: journalism is printing what someone else does not want published; everything else is PR.\u201d<\/p>\n

University journalism is a \u201ccrucial counterweight to ensure democracy within our educational institutions\u201d, Hertzberger said. She also believes that the press is well-placed to keep an eye on the quality of education. \u201cWith this in mind, we would like to know how the minister can guarantee press freedom for these university newspapers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pressing issue<\/h2>

Hertzberger\u2019s concerns were echoed by Luc Stultiens of GroenLinks-PvdA. \u201cI think these are very good questions. I am happy to lend my support on this pressing issue, about which we have already raised questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stultiens submitted written questions on the situation at TU Delft, to which Hertzberger was referring. There, journalism platform Delta came under pressure from the executive board to retract an article on social safety. Delta was also denied access to a public meeting on social safety at TU Delft.<\/p>\n

Similar incidents have occurred elsewhere. Recently, Eindhoven university magazine Cursor<\/em> clashed with the board over an article on possible conflicts of interest involving the new rector. The editor-in-chief had to step down and the magazine staged a website blackout in protest.<\/p>\n

Another issue arose at HAN University of Applied Sciences in Arnhem and Nijmegen: online platform SAM<\/em> featured a column about \u2018bullshit jobs\u2019 which angered the director of communications so much that he insisted on prefacing it with his own reaction.<\/p>\n\n\t

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