The Kring van Hoofdredacteuren (literally the circle of editors in chief) – or Kring for short – rebukes the legal threats expressed by TU Delft to Delta. In a letter [link in Dutch] to the Executive Board, the Kring also asks Saskia Bonger, the Editor in Chief, to not be held liable for any personal financial claims.
‘We are extremely concerned that the Editorial Office of TU Delft’s Delta was compelled to take an article offline after being threatened with legal action by TU Delft. This goes completely against Delta’s independent journalism’, writes the Kring van Hoofdredacteuren, the national umbrella organisation for independent university and university of applied sciences media.
The reason for the letter was threats by TU Delft’s Legal Services to Delta. Legal Services ordered Delta to remove the How confidentiality led to anxiety among I&IC staff and a loss of confidence in the Executive Board article on the grounds that it had cited confidential information. Should Delta ignore the order, TU Delft would make Delta and Saskia Bonger, the Editor in Chief, personally liable for any damages incurred by TU Delft. Under protest, Delta removed the article.
The Kring views this threat as excessive, as it states in its letter. ‘Critical reporting is naturally not always pleasant for management, but it is essential for the proper functioning of, and transparency and social safety at universities. We consider it completely unacceptable that TU Delft threatened Delta’s Editor in Chief and Editorial Office with making them financially liable for any damages that the article may bring to TU Delft.’
While the Executive Board has in the meantime offered its apologies for the legal threats, in an email to the Editor in Chief Saskia Bonger, Rector Magnificus Tim van der Hagen states that he is still of the opinion that TU Delft employees, and thus Delta journalists as well, may not cite confidential information.
In the letter, the Kring requests the Executive Board to adopt the opposite stance and to guarantee the journalistic independence of Delta. ‘This then means that the article that was taken offline is put online again. And finally, we also ask that the Editor in Chief is guaranteed to not be made liable for any personal financial claims. This is so that the Delta Editorial Office can continue to report honestly on this important subject in a socially safe environment.’ Thus the Kring ends its letter.
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