Who actually influences millions of Dutch talk show viewers? And does the right wing dominate Dutch talk shows? NRC investigated the political content of ten talk shows with the help of students from the Master's programme Media & Journalism at Erasmus University Rotterdam, led by researcher Nel Ruigrok (Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication).
From 1 to 30 September, the students analysed the talk shows Goedemorgen Nederland, Pauw & De Wit, Eva, Cafe Kockelmann, Dit is de Week, Buitenhof, WNL op Zondag, Vandaag Inside, RTL Tonight and Nieuws van de Dag. They analysed the speaking time and number of appearances of both politicians and so-called commentators (more or less regular guests who give their views on the topics under discussion) and provided the data for the study. In addition, the study looks at what is said and at the representation of, for example, women and people with a migrant background.
Who gets the most speaking time?
In terms of speaking time, Johan Derksen tops the list by a wide margin. In September, he spoke for 4 hours and 28 minutes. This puts him far ahead of the other commentators: Wierd Duk is number two with 84 minutes and Raymond Mens is number three with 80 minutes.
Of the leaders of political parties, Caroline van der Plas (74 minutes) received the most speaking time, followed by Rob Jetten and Frans Timmermans. Looking at the parties themselves, we see that the BBB and VVD received the most speaking time. This is striking when compared to the polls. The PVV scores relatively low as a middle-of-the-road party, despite leading in the polls.
Talking time figures do not reveal what was said. Did someone get themselves into trouble or not? Does a politician receive sufficient opposition, is someone received as a “party leader in trouble” or as “hope in troubled times”?
The influence of television
Even in an era dominated by social media, the campaign still focuses on television, says researcher Nel Ruigrok. ‘What we do know is that television in general has a huge influence. Research consistently shows that voting behaviour is strongly influenced by news about conflicts and news about polls.’
Whether voters blindly accept what is said on television is not easy to determine: citizens do not get their information solely from talk shows. However, there are correlations, such as that between Geert Wilders' election victory in 2024 and the breakthrough of Vandaag Inside as the most-watched talk show in the Netherlands.
Right-wing preference
The research shows that right-wing politicians, parties and commentators generally dominate the Dutch talk show landscape. If you combine the data, you get a hypothetical episode of Vandaag Inside in which Caroline van der Plas speaks at length about the VVD, flanked by Wierd Duk or Raymond Mens.
The (former) master's students who participated in the study are Gijs Berk, Rosa van der Vleuten, Frederique Zandvliet, Iza van Meggelen, Weia Tan, Niene Tempelman, Charlotte Soer, Christian Gravesteijn and Mare Hoekstra, led by Nel Ruigrok, Nisanur Karadavut and Vaas de Wit, in collaboration with the Ombudsman voor de publieke omroepen.
- Researcher
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Would you like to view the full study? Read more at NRC.nl (paid).
