Matthijs van Nieuwkerk (; born 8 September 1960) is a Dutch
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
and
television presenter. He is best known for hosting the daily ''
De Wereld Draait Door
''De Wereld Draait Door'' (; English: "The world keeps on turning") also known by the acronym DWDD was an early-evening talk show on Dutch television, broadcast every weekday at 7:00 p.m. on NPO 1. It is the Netherlands' longest-running, reg ...
'' (DWDD) television show from 2005 to 2020.
Biography
Matthijs van Nieuwkerk was born in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
. In 1980 he started his study
Dutch language
Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-Europea ...
at the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
, which he never finished.
With his childhood friend Mark van den Heuvel, van Nieuwkerk started his career in journalism interviewing sportsmen and sportswomen for the Dutch newspaper ''
Het Parool
''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...
''. Interviewees included chess grandmasters
Kasparov and
Karpov, and footballer
Johnny Rep
John Nicholaas Rep (born 25 November 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He holds the all-time record for FIFA World Cup goals for the Netherlands with 7.
Playing career
Rep played as a right-footed ...
. Soon after, he also started interviewing writers, and he was responsible for renewing the literary section of the newspaper. In 1988, he became an editor for the arts section. In 1996, he was promoted to editor-in-chief of ''
Het Parool
''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...
''.
In 2001 he became the editor-in-chief of
AT5
AT5 (Amstel Television 5) is a local television station in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
It first broadcast on April 1, 1992.
The city of Amsterdam is a minority shareholder,
and has provided financial support to the station.
See a ...
, the local television channel of Amsterdam. However, in 2002 he transferred to national television when he became the net coordinator of the Dutch public channel
Nederland 3. Out of frustration with the inner workings of the Dutch public broadcasting system (which stood in the way of the changes he envisioned), van Nieuwkerk quit his job. After six months, he started working in front of the cameras. Ahead of the 2003 elections, he presented the political programme ''Nederland Kiest'' with
Felix Rottenberg
Felix Rottenberg (born 4 June 1957, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch politician and former chair
A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. Th ...
. The duo started presenting
Nova, a Dutch programme about politics, but they both quit after a conflict with the editorial staff.
In 2005 van Nieuwkerk started his daily talk show ''
De Wereld Draait Door
''De Wereld Draait Door'' (; English: "The world keeps on turning") also known by the acronym DWDD was an early-evening talk show on Dutch television, broadcast every weekday at 7:00 p.m. on NPO 1. It is the Netherlands' longest-running, reg ...
'' (literal translation: ''The World Keeps on Turning''; "draait door" is also figurative speech for "goes crazy"), a popular show that airs on weekdays. The programme received the 2007
Gouden Televizier-Ring (the Dutch equivalent of the
Emmy Awards) for best TV programme.
Another successful programme of his is ''
Holland Sport
Scheveningse Voetbal Vereniging Scheveningen is an association football club from Scheveningen, a district of The Hague, Netherlands. The club was founded 1 July 1919. It is currently playing in the Tweede Divisie, the third tier of football in ...
'', a Monday night programme in which he and co-presenter Wilfried de Jong discuss sports.
(a music expert) and van Nieuwkerk created and still present the annual
Popquiz and Top 2000 à Go-Go.
Van Nieuwkerk was nominated for the
Zilveren Televizier-Ster for best show host in 2006 and 2007, but didn't win on either occasion.
On 12 February 2020 it was announced that Matthijs van Nieuwkerk would stop with his programme ''De Wereld Draait Door'' after the current series, due to finish on 27 March 2020. At the same time van Nieuwkerk is reported to have signed up with
BNNVARA
BNNVARA () is a broadcasting association and network within the Dutch public broadcasting system.
History
BNNVARA was founded on 1 January 2014 through a merger of the BNN (founded 1997) and VARA (founded 1925) associations. These continued to ...
(Dutch public broadcaster) for another three years and that he is in the process of setting up a series Saturday evening programmes for them, due to run from January 2021.
Accusations of Bullying
An article in ''
de Volkskrant'' newspaper in November 2022, reported accusations of systematic
bullying by van Nieuwkerk during the lifetime of ''De Wereld Draait Door''. In particular, it pointed to repeated instances of van Nieuwkerk shouting and threatening editors of the programme. In a written reply, also published by the newspaper, van Nieuwkerk indicated that there were some editors he did not get on so well with, but had a strong working relationship with other editors.
Other media
Van Nieuwkerk established the football magazine 'Hard Gras' with
Henk Spaan
Hendrik Gerardus Maria Spaan (born 30 September 1948) is a Dutch sports journalist, television presenter, author, and columnist. Spaan is best known for a series of Dutch-language TV programs he developed in collaboration with Harry Vermeegen bet ...
and wrote several books for it. He likes football and he plays the 'Buitenveldert' team along with Frits Barend. Van Nieuwkerk also played judo, volleyball, baseball, and cricket.
Youth magazine J/M had van Nieuwkerk as a writer of columns, and he helped write a book about fathers.
In the
Baantjer episode "De Cock en de man die weg wilde", he played a journalist.
Family
Van Nieuwkerk divorced from his wife Karin in 2021.
They have a son, Kees (named after "Kees de jongen", a popular Dutch book), and a daughter, Jet. He and his family live in Amsterdam, and he also owns a house in the Achterhoek region (in the east of the Netherlands).
Television
Below are some of the programmes van Nieuwkerk currently presents or has presented in the past:
*''Prima Vista'', VPRO, 1991;
*''De Gids'', a late night show by VARA;
*''TV3'', a cultural debate programme by the NPS, presented with Hadassah de Boer;
*''Popquiz à Go-Go'', a music programme by the NPS;
*''Top 2000 à Go-Go'', specifically made for Radio 2's
Top 2000, since 2002;
*''Top 2000 in Concert'', also made for Radio 2, since 2003;
*''Nederland Kiest'' and
''Nova'', with Felix Rottenberg;
*''FC Godenzonen'', an AT5 programme from 2003;
*''Holland Sport'', with Wilfried de Jong, since 2003;
*''
De Wereld Draait Door
''De Wereld Draait Door'' (; English: "The world keeps on turning") also known by the acronym DWDD was an early-evening talk show on Dutch television, broadcast every weekday at 7:00 p.m. on NPO 1. It is the Netherlands' longest-running, reg ...
'', since 2005;
*''Wat Heet!'', since 14 May 2007;
*''De Zomer Draait Door'', since 2 June 2007.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nieuwkerk, Matthijs Van
1960 births
Dutch journalists
Het Parool editors
Dutch sports journalists
Dutch television talk show hosts
Living people
Writers from Amsterdam