Fun & Famous

STOP WITH THAT WHINING

What is allowed and what is not on the news app

Yesterday, Max Verstappen finished second in the Grand Prix of Austria. The best guy is 18, just got his driver's license, is the first Dutchman ever to spray champagne on the Grand Prix podium, already won a Grand Prix recently, and all the international press is talking about the future of Formula 1. The best guy is a global star. So it's not surprising that NOS sends a push notification with the news that Max has managed to take this second place.

But that met with resistance. With Arjen Lubach and Michiel Veenstra leading the charge. Sports are not news, apparently. Ah. Okay. As far as I know, every newspaper (and newspaper = news) also has a sports section. Because what exactly is the definition of news? And who decides what is newsworthy? I think that would be the editorial board of a newspaper or news program, but also us as recipients. Because news is what is happening in the world and what we talk about.

”Or is it just because these men don't like Formula 1?”

What is news and what is not. The Song Festival? Is that something world-shattering? And if Max Verstappen had crashed and ended up in the hospital, would it then be ‘allowed’? Is news therefore equal to bad news? Or is it just because these men don't like Formula 1? Is football allowed? You tell me.

I think it's a difficult discussion without an outcome that everyone will be satisfied with. Maybe the best men should just remove the app with push notifications for now. And in the meantime, quietly chuckle that they have now also become news.