NEWS MEDIA
Pop-up NEWSROOMS PRODUCE DIFFERENT KIND OF STORIES
What if journalists worked out of a library, museum or secondary school? Niek Verhoeven (38) and Jeroen Achtereekte (29), reporters for de Stentor, are fans and advocates of the pop-up newsroom. “You get to hear different, more personal stories.”
Niek Verhoeven believes pop-up newsrooms should have a permanent place in the journalistic process. After coming up with the concept at De Gelderlander, he fleshed it out together with Jeroen Achtereekte. “The idea is not that earth-shattering,” Niek points out. “As a journalist, you’re always looking for stories. So it makes sense to look for places where you can meet people who have stories to tell.”
Through trial and error, the duo learned what works and what doesn’t (like sitting behind your laptop all day). Whether you set up your newsroom in a bookshop or sports centre, or spend election season driving around in a Volkswagen Beetle, people need to know what you’re doing. “We always clearly announce the arrival of our pop-up newsroom in advance, in the newspaper and online. We’re also easy to spot, thanks in part to our banner, and we’ve got free newspapers for people to take. When we were at Museum MORE in Gorssel, there was a long queue of people waiting – the museum had also announced that visitors could drop by for a chat with our journalists, which worked very well.”
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Sylvia Cools, editor-in-chief of de Stentor, sees the pop-up newsroom as an excellent way to connect directly with readers. “It’s important to be where our readers are, not just digitally but physically as well. We want to have conversations, to know what’s going on in the community. We do that by making our reporters as visible and approachable as possible. The pop-up newsroom is a great example of that – we really engage with our audience. By going to people, we lower the threshold for them to share their stories, tips or solutions with us.”
As part of the effort to bring the newspaper to its readers, the pop-up newsroom provides visibility while also supporting the goal of reaching ‘every corner of the country’. “We also get to hear a different kind of stories,” says Jeroen. “In Raalte, for example, we were visited by two people who wanted to sound the alarm because a major sporting event was in danger of disappearing. We were able to write a story about that right away.”
According to Niek, the pop-up newsroom is also an excellent way to make new contacts. “Our editorial team is usually holed up in an office building, which discourages people from popping in or calling us on the spur of the moment.”
“At BN DeStem we ran several experiments with pop-up newsrooms in 2024. First we spent three weeks in the Hoge Vucht district of Breda, and in the summer we spent some time in Gageldonk, a neighbourhood in Bergen op Zoom. But there were also colleagues who held weekly visiting hours in libraries and community centres. It’s a nice way to make ourselves more accessible and connect with people who want to share their stories with us, and it’s also good for us because we get a different, more diverse picture of the town or city. You see things you wouldn’t see sitting at your desk, and interacting with other people gives you a more complete understanding of things. So we’ll definitely continue this year, although the concept may change with each iteration.”
André Trompers
(42), EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF BN DeStem
OPEN ATTITUDE
The fact that Niek and Jeroen are still young and eager to innovate is not a determining factor, according to the duo. “It’s definitely important to have an open attitude when you meet people, but every journalist should have that. At de Stentor, every reporter – so not just the young ones – now has experience with the concept,” Niek says. “We not there for a full day, but about three or four hours per visit. It always energises me, and readers appreciate it when we make an effort to meet them where they live.”
The concept already has several variants. In November, for example, de Stentor organised a pop-up newsroom in a historic building in Lochem, close to the possible future site of a new asylum seekers’ centre. While they were there, they also did a live podcast. “We would love to see more and more titles doing their own pop-up newsrooms. They’re pretty easy to organise, and they always yield new stories.”
Indebuurt.nl digs for ‘local gold’ every day
Indebuurt.nl, now active in 34 cities, is all about local news. “Every day, we encourage our editors to go outside, into the city. We literally call it ‘digging for local gold’ – that’s our mantra,” says editor-in-chief Jantine van den Hoven. “The news is out there, waiting to be found. A new shop, the story behind a well-known statue, the top five restaurants according to a local resident... It doesn’t have to be that complicated, as long as you have good observations.”
Most editors working for Indebuurt.nl live in the city they write about. “When we’re looking for a new hire, applicants with a large local network have an edge.”
Jantine van den Hoven
(37), EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF indebuurt.nl
NEWSPAPER DISTRIBUTION IN BELGIUM FACES CHALLENGES
Now that the most pressing newspaper distribution problems in the Netherlands seem to have been solved, Belgium is facing similar challenges. Last year, some subscribers didn’t get their newspaper every day. “Making sure that all our readers receive Het Laatste Nieuws and De Morgen on time every day again is our top priority.”
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NEWSPAPER DISTRIBUTION IN BELGIUM FACES CHALLENGES
Now that the most pressing newspaper distribution problems in the Netherlands seem to have been solved, Belgium is facing similar challenges. Last year, some subscribers didn’t get their newspaper every day. “Making sure that all our readers receive Het Laatste Nieuws and De Morgen on time every day again is our top priority.”
For years, DPG Media – and every other publisher in Belgium – could rely on the Belgian postal company bpost to distribute its newspapers. Their mail carriers usually did their job flawlessly, much to the satisfaction of subscribers. But when the Belgian government decided to end its financial support for bpost’s delivery services, publishers were forced to look for new distribution partners at very short notice.
They landed on AMP, a subsidiary of bpost, and PPP, an independent company. Since October ٢٠٢٤, these distributors have been taking over bpost’s newspaper routes one region at a time, and by the end of ٢٠٢٦ they’ll be delivering every newspaper in Belgium. Unfortunately, both companies experienced a lot of start-up problems, and there was a shortage of suitable workers. The result: a growing number of complaints from subscribers who didn’t get their paper, or didn’t get it on time.
“Naturally, we sprang into action to help AMP and PPP look for possible solutions,” explains Job Muller, DPG Media’s director of operations. “They’re of course responsible for finding and retaining the right people for the job, but we’ve also done everything we can to help subscribers continue to get their newspapers and compensate them for undelivered newspapers.” Delivery workers from the Netherlands were used, temporary collection points were set up, newspaper vouchers were sent to affected subscribers and additional compensation measures were introduced.
DPG Media expects the problems to persist in ٢٠٢٥, but, Muller argues: “Making sure that all our readers receive Het Laatste Nieuws and De Morgen every day again is our top priority. We’re incurring extra costs to get that done, but that’s a price we’re obviously willing to pay.”
