THE HAGUE, 04/11/09 - Public broadcaster VARA is launching a partnership with De Volkskrant newspaper. VARA also launched an ambitions Internet project yesterday to promote leftwing opinions.

The editorial teams of De Volkskrant and VARA talk-show Pauw & Witteman will together chart "the mood of the Netherlands" in the runup to the local elections on 3 March 2010, they said. The partnership will take shape in the newspaper with articles and in the TV programme with reports, such as street interviews.

The first article will appear in De Volkskrant's Het Vervolg supplement. The newspaper and Pauw & Witteman will refer to one another and a joint website will be made.

Additionally, VARA yesterday launched the website joop.nl. The government-subsidised broadcaster wants to offer a counterbalance via this site to the popular rightwing website Geenstijl.nl, which receives no subsidy. VARA already tried this twice last year with no success - there were scarcely any visitors - but is now venturing a third attempt.

Joop.nl is "a site where ideas can be born," according to initiator Francisco van Jole. "Political colour will not be looked at," he claimed, but added: "Joop wants to be a place where everyone can freely give their opinions without running the risk of being execrated. For this reason, we moderate reactions beforehand."

Reactions will be refused if they "contain accusations without evidence" or if they are "hurtful". Van Jole: "The current debate in society is being deliberately killed off with verbal abuse by people who are completely uninterested in progressive ideas."

"Sites like GeenStijl have cultivated the open gutter. They are the dismal children of (assassinated Islam critic Theo) Van Gogh, who disastrously raze to the ground anything that smells of intelligence," according to Van Jole.

As well as the opinions considered suitable to be placed, a number of socialist politicians will write political columns, including Labour (PvdA) MP Mei li Vos. De Volkskrant is also involved with Joop.nl; the newspaper is lending a journalist to the site's editorial team.

VARA and De Volkskrant do not yet wish to say whether there are further plans for cross-media partnership. But they are considering whether VARA will make use of De Volkskrant's network of foreign correspondents.

Media Minister Ronald Plasterk is encouraging newspapers and public broadcasters to start permanent partnerships. Previously, this was not legally permitted. "The political climate has changed," say De Volkskrant's chief editors. "Up to six months ago, this was unthinkable."