de Volkskrant – Bias and Credibility

History

Founded in 1919, de Volkskrant is a Dutch national daily newspaper headquartered in Amsterdam. It originated as a newspaper associated with the Catholic labor movement and became increasingly progressive and secular during the 1960s. Today, it is one of the Netherlands’ major national quality newspapers and publishes reporting on domestic and international politics, economics, culture, science, lifestyle, and the arts.

Pieter Klok has served as editor-in-chief since 2019. Under Klok, the newspaper has emphasized high-quality journalism while also seeking to broaden the range of political and social perspectives represented in its coverage.

Read our Netherlands report on Media and Government.

Funded by / Ownership

De Volkskrant is published by DPG Media Nederland, one of the largest media companies in the Netherlands. DPG Media also owns or operates numerous Dutch and Belgian newspapers, news websites, magazines, radio stations, and television properties.

DPG Media Group holds 83.68% of DPG Media Nederland, while Stichting Democratie en Media owns 14.27%. Smaller stakes are held by several foundations, including Stichting de Volkskrant. Revenue is primarily generated through subscriptions, advertising, and other commercial media operations.

Analysis / Bias

De Volkskrant generally presents news from a progressive, center-left perspective, particularly on social and cultural issues. However, its straight-news reporting maintains professional journalistic standards and frequently includes competing viewpoints.

Independent assessments support this classification. Eurotopics describes de Volkskrant as a center-left, left-liberal quality newspaper, while academic research examining Dutch media positioning has characterized it as center-left and progressive. DPG Media itself describes de Volkskrant as a progressive publication.

An older MBFC review cited “De boze witte man wil zijn mannelijkheid terug” (“The angry white man wants his masculinity back”) as evidence of a Right-Center bias. That assessment was incorrect. The article does not interview psychologist Jordan Peterson, as the previous review stated. Instead, de Volkskrant interviewed both supporters and opponents of Peterson’s ideas about feminism, masculinity, and the political right. Although the headline and some framing reflect a progressive cultural perspective, the article provides substantial space for Peterson supporters to explain their views.

This distinction is important because the article actually demonstrates an effort to expose readers to ideological viewpoints outside the newspaper’s traditional progressive readership rather than advocating Peterson’s positions.

De Volkskrant’s editors have also acknowledged the need for ideological diversity. In an editorial discussing the need to encourage listening by providing additional perspectives, the newspaper explained that it intends to make room for a broader range of viewpoints. Editor-in-chief Pieter Klok has similarly stated that the paper has sought to move away from an explicitly partisan left-wing identity and become a more open publication.

Nevertheless, efforts to broaden ideological representation do not make the newspaper politically neutral. Its selection of cultural issues, opinion writers, terminology, and editorial positions generally reflects socially progressive and moderately left-of-center assumptions. Coverage tends to be favorable toward environmental protections, multiculturalism, LGBTQ+ rights, social welfare policies, and other positions typically associated with the Dutch center-left, while its opinion section contains a wider range of liberal, centrist, conservative, and contrarian perspectives.

Economically, de Volkskrant is less consistently left-wing than on social issues and generally operates within the mainstream European social-market consensus rather than advocating socialist economic policies. This moderates its overall bias rating.

Based on its progressive social orientation, center-left editorial perspective, and professional but somewhat left-leaning story selection, we rate de Volkskrant Left-Center.

Failed Fact Checks

• None to date

Overall, we rate de Volkskrant Left-Center biased based on its progressive social outlook, center-left editorial positions, and story selection, while recognizing its deliberate efforts to include a wider range of political perspectives. We rate it High for factual reporting due to strong sourcing, professional journalistic standards, and a clean fact-check record. (M. Huitsing 5/14/2018) Updated (08/17/2026)

Source: https://www.volkskrant.nl/