Charles Groenhuijsen, Journalist, Author and TV News Anchor
In 1996 Groenhuijsen returned to the United States, when he was appointed Bureau-chief for NOS tv and radio-based in Washington D.C.
Podcast
Overview
Charles Groenhuijsen rightly said, “Good news is no news”. Whenever you switch to the News channels, what kind of news do you see in general? How many times do you get news through the News channels? Very less, right? This news pattern is not area or country-specific. This is human psychology which is rightly understood by TV and News professionals like Charles Groenhuijsen, who is also our guest for this episode.
Charles Groenhuijsen is a writer, speaker, and well-known TV anchor in the Netherlands. He started his career at the age of 19, writing for the National Press Agency, and became a full-time reporter for Dutch National Television in 1983. He was the youngest correspondent stationed in Washington DC and was the anchorman for the two most important news shows on Dutch National Television. He currently anchors one of the daily news programs in the Netherlands. He is currently 67 years old. He has worked for about five decades in journalism. He is also an author and has written over ten books.
Charles Groenhuijsen’s motivation to write ‘Optimists own the world’
Charles tells us that the motivation to write ‘Optimists own the world’, came from his 45 years of journalism. While living in the world of news, he learned that journalism is biased towards negativity. To make us understand better, he shared a story when he was working on crime news. He wanted this story to be on his show. After realizing that it was a decline in the crime rate and not the rise in crime rate, he dropped the idea of covering that story. He tells us that in journalism, the good news is no news. This is why he was inspired to write about optimism.
Why did Charles say that being a journalist it isn’t his duty to improve the world?
Charles says that the job of journalists is, to tell the truth to the world. He says that his task is to show the world a true picture of what is going on around them. He tells us that even though the field of journalism has a bias for negativity, he has always stressed positive news in his writing. He didn’t do it because it was positive or negative but because it was a fact.
Fake news
Charles tells us that there is no way to actually pinpoint the percentage of the amount of fake news flowing in the ocean of information around the world. However, it is not much. He says that the problem with fake news is that it spreads quickly. He says that it is dangerous because it gives a perspective to the world which doesn’t even exist. He also says that the concept of fake news is overrated because people who like fake news, read it and the people who don’t like fake news might read it but don’t believe it.
Charles’ views on journalists being messengers
Charles says that journalists are not merely messengers, they are well-informed and unbiased messengers. They try to balance everything. He also advised the viewers that whenever you consume any content on the media, do not straight away believe it. You must question yourself whether what you are watching is the true story and predominantly, the whole story or not.
Charles’ views on taking charge
As our host asks Charles why he never wanted to be in charge, Charles tells us that by being in charge, he means that being a CEO, manager, or a boss was never his ambition. His ambition was just to enjoy the work he is doing.
The good news Charles would like to spread
Charles says that human resources are the biggest natural resource in the world. He believes that about 70% of the employed people in the world are not engaged enough with the work they are doing, they feel that they can do better, hence, they are not having fun while working. He advises the managers to act as leaders and asks them to engage their employees. He believes that if the engagement is increased and employees start to enjoy their work, it would be much better for them and the company as well. He also tells us that he considers himself to be lucky and privileged that he is engaged in his work and every day of his work brings pleasure to him.
Profile
Charles Groenhuijsen was born in Joure, Friesland. He studied History at the University of Utrecht where he started to write articles for the University newspaper and soon afterward the National Press Agency, ANP. Groenhuijsen then went on to join one of the leading national newspapers and almost simultaneously became a full-time reporter on Dutch national television in 1983.
Only three years later he went on to become the youngest correspondent ever to be stationed in Washington D.C. for Dutch television. As its chief correspondent, he was responsible for all the news from the United States. Then in the nineties, he was anchorman of NOVA and the political program Het Capitool, the two most important news shows on Dutch television. In 1996 Groenhuijsen returned to the United States, when he was appointed Bureau-chief for NOS tv and radio-based in Washington D.C.
Nowadays Charles Groenhuijsen is an independent writer, speaker, and consultant. He has written many columns and a number of bestselling books on American culture. He has proven himself to be an excellent moderator of discussions, seminars, and conferences, but also in his own right as a highly acclaimed speaker. It goes without saying that he can hold his own in the English language.
