Birgit Donker

Birgit Donker (* 1965 on Curaçao ) is a Dutch journalist . From 2006 to 2010 she was editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad , making her the first woman to head a national Dutch daily newspaper.

Life

Donker studied history at the University of Amsterdam and after graduating in 1989 did an internship at what would later become the newspaper. In the same year she went to Paris to the École Supérieure de Journalisme and completed a postgraduate course at the Sorbonne . From 1991 to 1994 Donker worked in the domestic department of the NRC Handelsblad with the education sector. From 1994–1999 she was a correspondent in Brussels and was subsequently appointed deputy editor-in-chief. In September 2006, after the resignation of editor-in-chief Folkert Jensma , Donker was initially appointed provisionally, and in December of the same year, was finally appointed permanently as his successor.

Compared to the other national daily newspapers in the country, the NRC Handelsblad has not suffered quite as dramatic, but nevertheless noticeable, circulation losses since the turn of the millennium. When she took up the position, Donker announced that she would not touch the previous status of the NRC Handelsblad as a quality newspaper and would oppose trivialization.

At the end of April 2010, Donker and the managing director of NRC Media, Gert-Jan Oelderik, announced their resignation on July 1, 2010. This step was justified by differences of opinion within the management about ensuring editorial independence. At the same time it was announced that Donker would continue to write for the newspaper.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ nrc.nl : Interview with Birgit Donker from December 12, 2006 ( Memento of the original from January 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Dutch)  
2. ↑ nrc.nl : "Hoofdredacteur en uitgever NRC Media stappen op", April 26, 2010 ( Memento of the original from April 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last accessed October 21, 2010 (Dutch) 

Web links

• Announcement on nrc.nl about her appointment as editor-in-chief (Dutch)