Joshua Livestro (born 16 December 1970, in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...

) is a Dutch

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

and political writer. He was a former assistant to

EU commissioner A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent o ...

Frits Bolkestein Frederik "Frits" Bolkestein (; born 4 April 1933) is a retired Dutch politician and businessman who served as Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 1990 to 1998 and European Commissioner for Internal Market from 1999 ...

. Livestro studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

and philosophy at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Livestro was active in the

Edmund Burke Foundation The Edmund Burke Foundation (''Edmund Burke Stichting'') is a conservative group based in The Hague, the Netherlands. History The Edmund Burke Foundation was founded in 2000 by a group of young conservatives, including professor Andreas Kinneging ...

, a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

. During his studies, Livestro was an active checkers player, and became national students' champion in 1994. He writes a column about foreign affairs for ''

De Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; en, The Telegraph) is the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, '' de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief s ...

''. Livestro succeeded

Ronald Plasterk Ronald Hans Anton Plasterk (; born 12 April 1957) is a Dutch scientist, entrepreneur and retired politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). He has earned a PhD degree in biology, specialised in molecular genetics. Being a former Minister of the Du ...

as a columnist for the Sunday morning television talkshow '' Buitenhof''. Plasterk became an education and culture minister in the

fourth Balkenende cabinet The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union ( ...

. The producers of ''Buitenhof'' fired Livestro after just four months, saying that his columns were subpar. Livestro said in a ''

Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; en, The Telegraph) is the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, ''de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief si ...

'' op-ed that he was fired for his "right-wing views," that the show routinely ignores alternate viewpoints and even censures columnists' views. He also called one of the broadcaster of ''Buitenhof'', the

NPS NPS may refer to: Organizations * National Park Service, U.S. * National Pension System, India * National Pension Service, Korea * National Phobics Society, UK charity * National Piers Society, UK charity * National Poetry Slam, competition * ...

, a "left-wing funnel," where "a ''

DDR DDR or ddr may refer to: *ddr, ISO 639-3 code for the Dhudhuroa language *DDr., title for a double doctorate in Germany *DDR, station code for Dadar railway station, Mumbai, India *' (German Democratic Republic), official name of the former East ...

'' mentality reigns." In wake of Livestro's firing, political parties D66 and VVD asked parliamentary questions to the culture minister, Ronald Plasterk, who incidentally was Livestro's predecessor at ''Buitenhof''. Plasterk answered that there was enough diversity in Dutch public television. On 25 November 2010, the Dutch daily newspaper ''NRC Handelsblad'' published an article which names Livestro an advisor to

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

; Livestro confirmed the announcement by telephone from his home in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, England. Livestro launched Jalta.nl on 18 September 2014. He lives in

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Livestro, Joshua 1970 births Living people Alumni of the University of Cambridge Conservatism in the Netherlands Dutch columnists Dutch draughts players Dutch evangelicals Dutch expatriates in England Dutch political writers Guernsey people Leiden University alumni People from Amersfoort