Dutch journalists union "very unpleasantly surprised" by possible RTL takeover

Journalist union NVJ has said it was "very unpleasantly surprised" by the 1.1 billion euro proposed takeover of RTL Nederland by DPG Media, said NVJ leader Thomas Bruning. He spoke in an interview with ANP on Friday.

"For years, we have expressed our concerns about the substantial consolidation of the media landscape, and this acquisition will lead to even further media consolidation." he says, "It has an inevitably huge impact at the journalist level because the news titles of RTL and DPG already reach a large part of the Netherlands population. It enlarges the power of an already dominant player in the Netherlands' journalistic media landscape and has huge consequences at an editorial level for our members and the public."

The NVJ has said it will soon meet with its membership to speak about the possible consequences of this deal between DPG and RTL. The union will also speak with representatives of both companies "about the terms and guarantees. We are extremely critical of this further media consolidation because maintaining a pluralistic media landscape is even more difficult."

The union is also going to contact the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets and the Dutch Media Authority. The two watchdogs will be responsible for assessing the takeover.

The NVJ is also concerned about "the negotiating position of freelancers and supplying media companies."