Pointer (2019)
Pointer is the platform for research journalism of Kro-NCRV on TV, radio and online. We keep your sharp and address the issues of now. We do this with the latest methods and the most experienced journalists, and we are always transparent about our approach.
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Pointer
2019 / TV-GSeasons & Episode
Pointer investigates the power of the Brussels pesticide lobby. More and more scientists are concerned about the relationship between pesticides and diseases such as Parkinson's, but plans to reduce the use of pesticides are encountering great resistance. The controversial herbicide Glyphosate may continue to be sold on the European market for the next ten years and an important law to halve the use of pesticides by 2030 is being rejected by the European Parliament. What tactics does the lobby use and why is it so successful?
You can have fillers injected into your face to fill in lines and folds, or, for example, to give your lips more volume. More and more people are using them. Legally, only doctors are allowed to inject fillers. Yet you also see many beauticians without the correct papers, a lucrative business in fillers. This is not without risk, because if a filler is injected incorrectly, it can cause serious complications. Is there sufficient supervision of these actions?
In winter, many people like to light a crackling fire. Cozy right? But wood smoke regularly causes nuisance and can cause health problems, as is the case with Dirk. He experiences nuisance because local residents burn wood, it makes him short of breath and keeps him awake at night. If he reports it to the municipality, little happens. What can he do?
There are at least 45,000 advertisements online luring Eastern European sex workers abroad, including the Netherlands. What exactly is hidden behind these advertisements? Last year, journalists in an international research team investigated how these sex workers can become victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. This digital method of investigation is also a method that the Dutch police and the Public Prosecution Service want to apply, because the underlying criminal networks remain out of reach with the current approach.
We receive tens of thousands of food advertisements every year: KFC as a Christmas meal on TV, Snickers bars in online videos and Coca-Cola on billboards. At least three-quarters of all those food advertisements are about unhealthy food; produce more than a billion euros annually. Meanwhile, 2.6 million Dutch people are already in favor of the government's one lifestyle program after another. The call for an advertising ban - just like with tobacco - is increasing, but doesn't all that temptation make healthy living much more difficult for the vulnerable? Who are actually the biggest advertisers and do they want to stop?
Pointer is the platform for research journalism of Kro-NCRV on TV, radio and online. We keep your sharp and address the issues of now. We do this with the latest methods and the most experienced journalists, and we are always transparent about our approach.