Dutch public broadcast groups Regionale Publieke Omroep (regional public broadcasters) and Nederlandse Lokale Publieke Omroepen (Dutch local public broadcasters) have signed an alliance to strengthen journalistic collaboration.
Dutch regional and local broadcasters differ in radius, focus and services but share a common public assignment and face similar challenges. One is independent, pluriform newsgathering, both on the local and regional levels. With the alliance, broadcasters want to tackle these challenges by collaborating on distinct local and regional media content, boosting journalistic diversity and quality in the news items, and increasing the audience reach.
NLPO represents about 240 broadcasters offering FM radio, streaming services and TV, and 212 of those broadcasters have applied for DAB+ licenses. The organization operates a common infrastructure, negotiates collective contracts and makes strategic agreements with interested parties.
RPO represents 13 regional public broadcasters — two in Zuid-Holland and one in every other province. The stations broadcast on radio via DAB +, FM and streaming, on TV and on the internet, and serve as emergency channels.
“Professionalism and quality have improved with the extra investments in local newsgathering,” commented Marc Visch, managing director of NLPO. “The opportunities for content-related collaboration are there, with lots of topics on different levels. With this collaboration, RPO and NLPO add to the democracy and the presence of a strong public broadcast landscape throughout our country.”
Jan Müller, managing director of RPO, added that the alliance is the basis for future research. “We will investigate whether we can incorporate a “local office” with every regional broadcaster. The exchange of items and content, alongside the collaboration on the newsroom level, will further enrich each other’s content.”
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