Suppose political leaders did not set the country’s policy but instead made the newspaper for a day. What would happen then? What would the newspaper look like? What headings do they choose, what pictures do they place, and what is the tone of the stories?

This was the premise of the special Telegraaf event leading up to the general election. The country’s largest political parties and the main challengers had the opportunity to create their own page in De Telegraaf. 

This was interesting for our journalists to analyse the choices, great for our readers to get acquainted with the political parties in a different way, and an opportunity for the political parties to reach our readers directly.

Ten days before the elections on November 22, 2023, we invited seven political leaders who all accepted the invitation to be editor-in-chief for a day. This Sunday afternoon made our newsroom the epicentre of national politics for a while. Not only did our journalists follow everything, but numerous other media (newspapers, radio stations, TV programmes) were present to monitor the proceedings closely.

Up close and personal

This was one of the few times in the campaign when the personal side of political leaders was clearly visible. Because of the informal setting, they walked around relaxed. There was joy, feedback on each other’s articles, and lots of laughter.

Some list leaders had not yet met during the campaign period, which also led to spontaneous debates — for example, on energy transition. Everything could be followed live via our Web site and apps.

The parties had already done a lot of work in the run-up to the afternoon event. In consultation with our parliamentary editors, they had already created most of the articles. On that Sunday, they went to work with our designers and editors to complete the page.

Maintaining journalistic integrity

At a time when governments, parties, and political leaders prefer communication through their own channels and social media to being questioned by journalists, it would be understandable if there was criticism that, in this way, we gave political parties a free platform and that this made us an extension of politics.

In this context, it is worth emphasising that we interviewed all political leaders during the campaign period. Classic journalism.

There was also room for ordinary journalism during the afternoon. Our political commentator, along with a presenter in our video studio, interviewed all the political leaders present. In this way we managed to touch on current affairs.

This was a unique event during campaign time. It reinforced De Telegraaf'’s authority precisely because of the presence of all political leaders, the attention of other media to the event, and the final journalistic result.

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