VRT CEO Frederik Delaplace has not considered resigning after the new fuss at the public broadcaster. The CEO said this on Friday in ‘Terzake’. He also reiterated that, as managing director, he is not aware of “official complaints” about inappropriate behavior. But he does add that “in recent years, action has been taken on every report or indication” of problems within the Content department.
The weekly magazine Humo revealed on Tuesday how there had been complaints for years about the behavior of former Content Director Ricus Jansegers. Those complaints would have ended up with Delaplace. However, he stated in the Flemish Parliament in September that he had “no knowledge” of complaints about inappropriate behavior.
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Opposition party Groen then accused the CEO of lies and the unions at the public broadcaster also questioned Delaplace’s position. The new Minister of Media, Cieltje Van Achter (N-VA), continued to support him. (Read more below the photo)
Content director Ricus Jansegers is said to have made rude statements to employees. — © Maarten De Bouw
Delaplace himself had not thought about resigning, he said To the point. “We are facing an important turning point with this organization. It would be very lame if the captain left the ship at that moment. But we can certainly learn from things that can be improved,” says Delaplace.
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Delaplace insists that he himself is not aware of “official complaints” about inappropriate behavior. But that does not alter the fact that as CEO he was aware of the problems in the Content department. “Of course I was aware of those problems. Otherwise we should not have taken such measures.”
“In recent years, we have acted on every report or indication that matters within the Content department were not proceeding in accordance with the VRT standards. We have taken action,” Delaplace said. The CEO does acknowledge that in retrospect it would have been better to opt for “an objectifying investigation by the welfare department more quickly to take the right measures”.