Augmented Journalism

The Netherlands is still a patient, waiting for recovery. Although most things seem to have gone back to normal in this tiny European country that was so devastated by the killings of Theo van Gogh and Pim Fortuyn at the beginning of this century, beneath the surface the fear is still very strong.

Today’s 65th Remembrance Day was proof of it. At the end of the traditional two minutes silence in front of the national war monument in Amsterdam, a tiny incident was enough for a lot of panic.

Strange sounds were heard in the audience, a man shouted something, people started running away, some fences fell down and a wave of panic spread through the hundreds of people around it. Kids fell over, queen Beatrix was rapidly brought into safety. More than 60 people got injured.

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Only five days ago, Beatrix had wholeheartedly thanked her people that they had returned Queen’s Day to the Netherlands. It was a huge relief for her that no incidents like the year before had occurred during this national day of celebration on April 30.

The relief turned out to be only short-lived. Today she knows for sure that the patient still needs to be taken care of.

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A 39-year old male from Amsterdam was arrested immediately after the incident. He is accused of causing the disorder by his shouting during the two minutes of silence. If no other accusations will be added, according to Dutch law the suspect has to be set free by tomorrow morning. The fact that he is known by the police from other drugs and violence related crimes, doesn’t alter that. Witnesses said that the suspect had the looks of an Orthodox Jew. Police couldn’t confirm that he really is.

UPDATE Charges have been changed into “causing serious injuries”, so the suspect will be held in custody for at least another 48 hours.

De Wereld Draait Door (”As the World Turns”), the most popular news show on Dutch public tv, has found the limits of live broadcasting. In an item on chatroulette, a naked, erect penis appeared on screen. Anchorman Matthijs van Nieuwkerk immediately stopped the item – and closed the show.

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Great report on a “guerilla marketing” activity from Dutch brewer Heineken. How to get a concert hall full with men who all really wished they’d be watching the football game between Milan and Real Madrid. But hey, there’s bosses and girlfrinds and wives and…

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Front Page De Telegraaf: "Fatal Change of Lanes"

Just a couple of days after the world has noticed that the Dutch want to back off from Afghanistan, the country’s self esteem has received two more blows. They seem to hit the Dutch even more.

First, the certain gold medal winner Sven Kramer (speed skating) made the unforgivable mistake to choose the wrong lane, and got himself disqualified. At the crucial moment he was in a winning position,  a little over half way in his 10,000 meter race. His coach, Gerard Kemkers, took all the blame – he had a moment of uncertainty and gave his skater the wrong signals. The Dutch were so shocked that it even made “Sven Kramer” a worldwide trending topic on twitter.

But maybe even worse, a couple of hours later the bob sleigh team led by Edwin Van Calker decided not to compete at all. Van Calker had a feeling that “he wasn’t able to control the bob”. After four years of training, spending incredible amounts of money in the best bob sleigh the world could build, he just backed off. Leaving the rest of his team – and country – in frustration.

This morning, there is only one thing people in the Netherlands can talk about: where did we go wrong?

No joke: the latest government campaign in the Netherlands is all about unexpected kindness. Aparently the Dutch rudeness reached a level that asked for special measures. A 45 second commercial is now being broadcasted on national tv and tries to prepare the Dutch for some old school friendliness.  Punchline: kind people, how do we deal with them? No subtitles needed.
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The Dutch coalition government last night barely saved its life after getting into serious trouble because of the support that was given to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.  ”The Dutch government supported a U.S. dominated invasion that had no legal backing and did not fully inform parliament about its plans in the run-up to the conflict”, a long-awaited investigation concluded on Tuesday. But the real problems started later that day when prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende questioned three major conclusions of the investigation.

Balkenende, who also was prime minister in the years 2002-2003 (but in another coalition) didn’t need much time to analyse the more than 500 pages of the report. His response, only hours after its publication: It’s all a matter of opinion, I see these things differently. Moreover, he said he made his remarks “on behalf of the coalition”. Which made one of the two coalition partners – Labor Party PvdA – furious.

Last night Balkenende succeeded in calming down his political partners and saving the coalition. A fierce debate in parliament – which lasted until 3 in the morning – was the only reward the opposition parties could get.

The investigation brought to light that Balkenende did not attend the brief foreign affairs ministry meeting in August 2002 at which the decision was effectively taken to support the Iraq invasion. Moreover, he was not actively involved in planning until February 2003, the committee said. ”This meeting in august, which apparently took not more than 45 minutes, laid the basis for the cabinet’s position which was maintained until the invasion in March 2003,” committee president Willibrord Davids said.

The cabinet is expected to give a more thorough reaction to the report at the start of February.

Anne Frank

(CNN)

Gies was among a team of Dutch citizens who hid the Frank family of four and four others in a secret annex in Amsterdam, Netherlands, during World War II, according to her official Web site, which announced her death Monday. She worked as a secretary for Anne Frank’s father, Otto, in the front side of the same Prinsengracht building.

— Miep Gies, who ensured the diary of Anne Frank did not fall into the hands of Nazis after the teen’s arrest, has died. She was 100.

Miep Gies, Anne Frank protector, dies at 100

Instead of Elian Wils and Robbert Nieuwenhuijs, it was the Amsterdam Tourisme & Congres Bureau (ATCB) that organised the response to Bill O’Reilly’s criticism on Amsterdam. The Fox News anchorman had called the Dutch capital “a cesspool of drugs, corruption, prostitution and crime”, which inspired ATCB for a reaction last summer.

Now, half a year later, and only after it was nominated for a prize on innovation in city marketing, ATCB publicly admits it directed the big hit YouTube video’s .

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In a new video, ATCB declares “we decided not to disclose our commitment in order to maintain the initiative friendly and to get authentic responses”. The president of the national Dutch advertisers association (VEA) has called it unwise to mislead the viewers like ATCB did. “In an age of transparancy, you shouldn’t hide your intentions”, he says in newspaper Het Parool.

If ATCB gets the citymarketing prize, will be decided on january 14. According to the jury, “ATCB ridiculed a highly negative news item on Fox News in a very funny way.”

The website The Truth About Amsterdam is still on air and doesn’t mention anything about the real truth.

Brouwers feels that a hyperlocal network has the potential to make money from highly targeted advertising. Paid content is a possibility, but it would not be the basis of the network’s revenue stream: “maybe 90% of what we are doing will be free.” With regards to advertising, Brouwers thinks that there is potential for more innovative and profitable methods. “I do believe in intelligent ways of mixing advertising with journalistic content,” he said, “as long as you are able to stay independent and be clear to your audience what is paid for.” He referred to the way that True/Slant incorporates advertising: the ads are written in a blog style and provide more information than a banner or pop-up ad could, but they are clearly distinguished from other content (see here for an example.)

Hyperlocal news to hit the Netherlands – Editors Weblog.

Only hours after her disappearance was made public, the 14 year old “sailing girl” Laura Dekker was found in the Netherlands Antilles. She had left her father’s house in Wijk bij Duurstede last firiday, and a search warrant went out on sunday. Police on the Dutch Caribbean island Sint Maarten reported her arrest the same afternoon. She will be brought to the Netherlands as soon as possible, police say.

Laura took a plane to the island, apparantly without help from others. Reports of her taking $4500 with her, could not be confirmed by her father. Her boat, the Guppy, was still in the frozen harbor of Maurik.

Laura has been planning a solo sailing trip around the world for almost a year now. She wanted to sail last august, but authorities withheld her because of her age.

Dutch police didn’t want to speculate on the circumstances of her sudden departure. “She is just a minor and has to come home to her father.”

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