Government intelligence services often try to recruit journalists despite risks

An investigation by NRC revealed government intelligence agencies often seek out journalists to help them. Half of the 32 journalists and editors that NRC spoke with had been approached by an intelligence agency.

The General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) and Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) tried to recruit journalists whose work overlapped with the work of the services. This included journalists reporting on areas of conflict in the Middle East, for example, according to NRC. As a result, the intelligence agencies might ask journalists to be informants or even spies.

“It happens structurally. AIVD officers abroad have to build up a network. Journalists are part of that," a former AIVD officer told the newspaper.

In several cases, the AIVD seemed willing to pay the journalists. However, if Dutch journalists working in foreign countries are found to be affiliated with these agencies, the risks can be immense, sources told NRC.

"It remains a bad thing, because we run an enormous risk in those countries," said Sinan Can of BNNVARA, who was approached by an intelligence agency in 2018. Can's work has taken him to Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

General secretary of the Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ) Thomas Bruning has called for a ban on such recruitment of journalists by the MIVD and AIVD, according to NRC.