Flemish Media Minister Benjamin Dalle (CD&V) on Tuesday criticised the coverage by the VRT and VTM of Monday evening’s Brussels bombing.
The Flemish Christian democrat was reacting on X (ex-Twitter) to a comment by De Morgen’s senior editorialist Bart Eeckhout, who criticised the coverage by the two Dutch-language channels, contrasting it with that of the French-language RTBF.
“In times of crisis, our news media must be benchmarks of quality and solidly verified information,” Benjamin Dalle commented. “What was shown yesterday did not meet these standards. Editors-in-chief need to assess this and learn from it,” he urged.
“Normally, the minister sticks to the line, which is not to interfere with content,” said Charlotte Michils, secretary of the Flemish Association of Journalists (VVJ), interviewed by Belga News Agency. “And it doesn’t seem to me that he’s doing that here.”
“But as a minister, he is entitled to be critical of the way in which, for example, the public service acts with the public funding it receives,” Michils added.
