NRC Handelsblad in Scandal: Journalist Caught Making Up Stories
amsterdam, vrijdag, 22 augustus 2025.
The prestigious NRC Handelsblad is at the centre of a journalistic scandal. Correspondent Oumaima Abalhaj in Spain has been caught making up stories, including fake quotes and non-existent sources. A Spanish farmer, whom Abalhaj cited as a source, denied ever having spoken to her. An internal investigation revealed that eight of her articles between 2022 and 2025 contained serious journalistic errors. Chief Editor Patricia Veldhuis acknowledged that trust in the newspaper has been severely damaged, causing significant waves in the media industry.
Rumours Begin to Surface
The first signals of the scandal began last Monday when GeenStijl asked critical questions of the NRC’s chief editor. They questioned how an article about data centres in rural Spain came to be and whether the sources had actually been interviewed. NRC responded that everything had been done according to the NRC code, which is supposed to guarantee journalistic integrity [1].
Unmasking the Fraud
The article in question, published in June, dealt with the conflict between farmers and data centres over water. Oumaima Abalhaj claimed to have spoken to a Spanish farmer, Chechu from Villanueva de Gállego. However, this farmer denied ever having seen or spoken to Abalhaj, which was the first indication of the fraud [1][2].
Internal Investigation Confirms Serious Errors
An internal investigation revealed that the fraud was not limited to this one article. Between 2022 and 2025, eight of Abalhaj’s articles were found to contain gross errors, including the fabrication of quotes, failure to cite sources, and the omission of family ties with sources [1][2].
Chief Editor’s Response
Chief Editor Patricia Veldhuis acknowledged that trust in NRC journalism has been seriously damaged. She emphasised that the reliability of the newspaper is their most valuable asset and that this case has dealt a severe blow to NRC’s reputation [1][2].
Impact on the Media Industry
This scandal comes at a particularly bad time for the media industry. In an era where distrust in mainstream media is already high, NRC cannot afford this blunder. The incident casts a shadow over the integrity of journalism as a whole and widens the gap between the media and the public [1][2].