Flemish Newscaster will not allow headscarves on TV anchors

BRUSSELS: Flemish [state] broadcaster VRT will not permit female newsspeakers in scarves on tv. ‘A newsspeaker wearing a scarf is not possible and will not be allowed’, minister Freya van den Bossche said with determination, wednesday in parliament, on behalf of the flemish government.

The occasion was a remark by her minister colleague Ingrid Lieten (Media). She had said in an interview that she herself wouldn’t have a problem with a female VRT newsspeaker wearing a scarf. The public broadcaster said straightforward that such thing is in breach of the broadcaster’s neutrality and impartiality.

In the parliamentary debate, only the Groen party united behind van Lieten’s words. (...)