Augmented Journalism

The Dutch military approach, where victory was the only goal, was sustained for seven ugly World Cup matches. Understanding that this method was needed to reach the finals of the tournament, Dutch soccer fans were hopeful that their national team would eventually start playing the real football again. In vain.

In the end the Dutch team became the metaphor for a pale tournament, with hardly any highlights. Hope was cherished for over a month, but it didn’t last after all – justice was done by Spanish goal getter Iniesta and what was left was one big pool of disappointment.

Dutch newspapers this morning don’t focus on the ugly game that was played by their national team, nor on the un-Dutch approach (at moments the fans thought they were watching German, Italian or Argentine players instead), but only on the disappointing grand finale.  There even is some anger against the English referee, although this man obviously could have given the Dutch one or two extra red cards. And of course there is pride. “We fought like lions”, De Telegraaf writes.

In the mean time, the rest of the world (including the non-Spanish part of it) concludes that it would have been much better if the Dutch wouldn’t have reached the finals at all. That won’t stop the Dutch authorities – and fans – from giving their heroes a warm welcome when the return home. An “almost victory”-tour in the canals of Amsterdam will be held on Tuesday, next to a bunch of other celebrations.

Telegraaf, Holland's leading newspaper, proud supporter of the national team

The country has turned orange.

Millions of fans have been celebrating all night.

The day after, orange is still the leading color on the streets.

In the offices, casual friday seems to have turned into orange wednesday.

Hardly a single word in today’s newspapers about the difficult discussions that should lead to a new cabinet.

Any non-orange conversation is rare today.

Morning meetings have been canceled because of lack of participants.

Productivity seems to have reached an all time low.

My colleague Jaap at the office

What will The Netherlands look like if sundays’s finals will be won?

The leading Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf is sueing the state of the Netherlands because the National Intelligence and Safety Service (AIVD, the “Dutch CIA”) tapped telephone calls of two of their reporters. The newspaper is not only backed by the Journalists Union NVJ and the Society of Editors-in-Chief (NGvH), but also received strong support from representatives of a majority of Dutch parliament.

The tapping procedures found place after De Telegraaf published “state secrets” from within the AIVD, concerning the Dutch support for the American activities in Iraq. According to De Telegraaf, for months the telephone calls of two concerned reporters, as well as the editor-in-chief and a member of the foreign desk, were tapped. They were also followed, the paper says.

Guusje ter Horst, minister of Home Affairs and responsible for the AIVD, doesn’t want to react. “We’ve heard the arguments of the paper and will see each other in court.”

Editor-in-chief Sjuul Paradijs is furious. “The minister has to explain if she authorizeded the tapping practices and if so, why”, he is quoted in his own newspaper. De Telegraaf demands all the gathered information to be destroyed. “Journalists are not untouchable, but still have to be sure they can protect their sources.”

A court in Amsterdam will treat the case on July 16.

UPDATE: While Dutch journalists complain about being telephone tapped by the secret service, Great Britain sees exactly the opposite happening: journalists illegally hacking into the mobile phone messages of numerous public figures. The Guardian reports:

Rupert Murdoch’s News Group News papers has paid out more than £1m to settle legal cases that threatened to reveal evidence of his journalists’ repeated involvement in the use of criminal methods to get stories. The payments secured secrecy over out-of-court settlements in three cases that threatened to expose evidence of Murdoch journalists using private investigators who illegally hacked into the mobile phone messages of numerous public figures to gain unlawful access to confidential personal data, including tax records, social security files, bank statements and itemised phone bills. Cabinet ministers, MPs, actors and sports stars were all targets of the private investigators.