Koen Clement, Peter Vandermeersch and Frederik Delaplace: among those three men, the Flemish government will elect – perhaps tomorrow – the new CEO of the VRT. That is what various sources say to De Standaard .
Tomorrow, the Flemish government wants to make a decision about who will become the new VRT managing director, or CEO. There is a shortlist on the government table that, according to our information, contains three names: Koen Clement, Peter Vandermeersch and Frederik Delaplace. Sources within both the VRT and the Flemish government confirm this to De Standaard .
Koen Clement is chairman of the board of Studio 100 and was a candidate in the previous search for a CEO in 2016. He would be in pole position to get the position. Clement is also director general of the Europalia culture festival. He worked for De Persgroep for many years and was also CEO at publisher WPG.
Peter Vandermeersch is former editor-in-chief of De Standaard and NRC Handelsblad , and is currently working in Ireland to integrate Independent News & Media (INM) into Mediahuis, the parent company of De Standaard and NRC .
The third candidate is Frederik Delaplace who is currently CEO of Mediafin, the publisher of the business newspapers De Tijd and L’Echo . Delaplace was previously an editor and editor in chief at De Tijd .
Neither the cabinets of Minister of Media Benjamin Dalle (CD&V), nor that of Prime Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA) want to comment on the matter. Vandermeersch and Delaplace were not available for a response. Clement says he is not aware of the latest state of the recruitment process.
Paul Lembrechts
Veteran Leo Hellemans has acted as interim CEO of the public broadcaster since January, when the then managing director Paul Lembrechts was fired . The departure followed a months-long power struggle between Lembrechts and Peter Claes, then director of Media and Production and number two on the Reyerslaan. Claes also had to leave.
It is certainly certain that a man will succeed Hellemans. He inherits a public broadcaster in turbulent water, partly because of the significant savings operations imposed by the Flemish government on the VRT. This morning , this newspaper reported that after a question from Vlaams Belang, the VRT deleted an excerpt from the satirical program De Ideale Wereld .