Roundtable on media and press freedom

June 30, 2021

The Committee on Education, Culture and Science (OCW) will hold a panel discussion on media and press freedom on Thursday, July 1 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The conversation can be followed live through the Debate Direct website and application.

Media and press freedom

During the roundtable, members of the OCW committee engage in dialogue with various journalists, interest groups and scientists on the promotion of press freedom. The reason for the conversation is the fact that for the second year in a row the Netherlands lost a place in the ranking annual international press freedom index by Reporters Without Borders. According to the study, foreign governments are increasingly trying to influence Dutch press policy, and the number of reports of threats against journalists is increasing.

topics

MEPs discuss with participants the promotion of press freedom and the safety of journalists. We also look at what other countries are doing in this area and what the Netherlands could gain from it.

Roundtable participants

Participants in the roundtable with the OCW committee include criminal journalist Paul Vugts, NOS journalist Edwin van den Berg, Omroep Gelderland editor Sandrina Hadderingh, Thomas Bruning of the Dutch Association of Journalists and professor of artificial and social intelligence Claes de Vreese. See the overview of the full guest list and schedules.

Position papers

A number of participating organizations have submitted position papers to the committee in advance, in which they briefly outline their positions. In this, they pay attention, among others, to the danger of self-censorship, intimidation, disclosure of personal data and public mistrust. Read all position papers.

Why a round table?

The Chamber regularly organizes hearings and round tables. It is an effective way for a committee to learn as much as possible about a subject in a short time. Members can thus better form an opinion and conduct the final debate well prepared. The deputies themselves decide who will be invited to a hearing or a round table. They specialize in the subjects dealt with by the committees of which they are part and they know who are the key players and the experts in these fields.

Follow it live