Dutch state subsidises positive image of immigrants on TV

The Dutch government gave subsidies of over 11.8 million euros to public and commercial broadcasters in 2006 and 2007. Newspaper De Volkskrant discovered that subsidies were among other things given for programmes showing black and white people getting along well.

The justice ministry gave subsidies totalling 610,500 to commercial broadcaster SBS6 for programmes in which immigrants were shown in a positive context. A SBS6 weather programme (Piets Weerbericht), for example, received 12,500 euros from the ministry because it was filmed at a tennis club “where there is good integration between people of different cultures,” according to De Volkskrant.

In 2006, the government subsidised a total of 75 co-productions with a total of 5,180,208 euros. In 2007, the government accepted 43 applications, for 4,350,419 euro. Additionally, 793,295 euros was spent in 2006 and 1,496,335 euros in 2007 from the foreign ministry’s Europa fund on TV programmes in praise of the environment, development aid and European cooperation.

Socialist Party (SP) MP Van Dijk and Party for Freedom (PVV) MP Bosma want to summon Media Affairs Minister Ronald Plasterk to the Lower House today to give an explanation. Van Dijk: “This is propaganda, the neutrality of the state is put in doubt.” Bosma: “These are Soviet practices. Broadcasters serving as state television. Absolutely revolting.”

Since 2005, there have been rules for the partnership between the broadcasters and the government. A ministry is allowed under these to subsidise up to 50 percent of the production costs of a programme. But the broadcaster must then state that the ministry has contributed. The contents must not contain any ‘policy parts.’

Source: NIS News, 22 January 2008