A word on Janke Dekker, wife of Tom Egbers and former head of the Mores Hotline. Not to set things off, but because it is an interesting case where human helplessness and the hard reality of media collide head-on.

In short: A Volkskrant article on NOS Sport revealed that Eberspers had an affair in the distant past with a colleague 26 years his junior, who then bullied him away. Unfortunately, Egebers is married to Dekker, the head of the Center for Reporting Abusive Behavior in the Media Sector. She has advocated for years that victims must be believed, that it is essential that they be able to come forward safely, and that conflicts of interest are out of the question. She has also promised that, should there be any report of her husband, she will leave Maurice immediately.

but practice what you preach It turned out to be more difficult than expected. Monday afternoon in it advertisement dramatic interviewThere is a decker De Volkskrant Wiping off the frying pan, she cites her husband’s midlife crisis as an explanation and accuses the woman he’s been having an affair with (a fascinating detail: they’ve only kissed for three years) of stalking. She also talks about her suicidal thoughts, how the crisis has burdened her family and how the current situation is affecting Tom’s health. Terrible of course, but above all very private, totally irrelevant and contrary to everything Maurice stands for.

Cognitive dissonance

What did she think? How could someone who has been tried and tested in the media think that such an interview is a good idea? Why was there no one to save her from the PR disaster? Was she overconfident? Cognitive dissonance? Or just an instinctive reaction of someone who wants to stand up for themselves and their loved ones?

Decker isn’t the first, and won’t be the last, hyper-publicity cat to take bizarre leaps. Robert Oye, who was still married to Fimke Halsema at the time, made a similar one in the fall of 2019. Trainwreck interview When their son was in trouble, Linda de Mol started out Wild To get over her when her boyfriend lost his credibility and the mom By Jan Smit… In any case, the guest towels, sconces, and fixtures are “gone!” It has been analyzed often enough.

purification

In addition to personal qualities, something will also play a role that you and I, who open the newspaper in the morning at the kitchen table, read such an interview, and, pityingly shaking our heads, conclude “you shouldn’t have done that,” can not be imagined. Because we cannot understand how intense it is when the whole country is talking about you and your family. What kind of chaos arises in your head after that, how you are no longer able to think clearly and make reasonable decisions. Hence you cannot suppress the primary reflex of a response.

Someone once told me that it’s a rewarding and rewarding experience to end up in a media storm or a Twitter riot. To then be more lenient with people in the same situation. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but maybe we’ll be able to understand the next Janke Dekkers a little better.