Pols tune in to TV
Fortuyn helped candidates realize medium's power (Bron: Variety, 19 januari 2003

By Marlene Edmunds

AMSTERDAM -- Dutch politicians are finally following their American counterparts and using the TV as the primary election campaign tool. And its due largely to the late Pim Fortuyn, Holland's first victim of a political murder, who was shot just days before the elections last May. He became the first candidate in Dutch media history to use TV almost exclusively to deliver his message, and in the run-up to the national elections on Jan. 22, the lesson has not been lost on politicians or on the media.

"He was the first to use TV wisely," notes Ton Elias, veteran Dutch TV political correspondent and anchor. Elias is guest presenter on an election program from commercial broadcaster SBS "Are You Worth My Vote" which aired daily in primetime Jan. 13-17.Fortuyn's controversial anti-immigration stance made him wary of public rallies. "For the most part, he only appeared on TV, and in doing so, he changed the political landscape," says Elias, because for the first time politicians realized "TV can reach more public than any other medium."

Fortuyn also appealed to a new, younger group of voters influenced by commercial TV. Estimates are as many as 30% of the voters who are party hopping and don't know who they will vote for are from that TV gen.

TV, says Martijn Lampert, senior project manager of Amsterdam-based market researcher Motivaction, creates a "degree of intimacy" these voters are looking for and it helps foster their trust.

Fortuyn's anti-immigration politics appalled the mostly liberal Dutch legislators but his willingness to address controversial issues in plain language instead of tedious governmental parlance captured the imagination of many voters. "That he did all of this on TV made it even more vivid," says one analyst.

Fortuyn's party, the LPF, gained seats after his death, but the Dutch cabinet collapsed for the second time in a year during the summer after coalition partners failed to agree on an agenda.

© 2002 Reed Business Information © 2002 Variety, Inc.