One important source is government information, for which Dutch legislation on the public nature of government records is the primary tool, as it gives citizens (and journalists) the right to access government data. The way in which the law functions and the lengthy procedures involved have recently come under attack.
In general, the Association of Journalists controls the basic working conditions for professional journalists in the Netherlands.
The Dutch newsrooms engage in various forms of self-reflection on and appraisal of the work they do and the way in which they do it. However, most self-reflection occurs on an ad hoc basis and usually after the fact.
On its website mediamonitor.nl, the Media Authority describes the most recent situation as to media ownership relations.
The Dutch news media enjoy relative independence from power holders. There are examples of diagonal concentration involving a publisher and a broadcaster in the same group as well as an investment company as the largest shareholder.
One leading example is the ‘Foundation Media Debate Bureau’, the website denieuwereporter.nl is another. Both invite media professionals as well as citizens to think about quality, reliability and diversity in the media.
No pre-planned budgets are allocated to perform investigative journalism and fulfill the watchdog function.
There is a well-established practice of continuous training of media professionals.
The watchdog mission is understood (and sometimes also implemented) as an important, but not a primary function of the contemporary news media.
Additional demands are formulated for journalists.
The Media for Democracy Monitor (MDM) is a research project from The Euromedia Research Group. This is a network of researchers that collects and exchanges information that help to describe and analyse developments in media structure and policy in Europe.
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