VRT NWS - News & updates app

VRT NWS brings you the most recent, reliable, and important news from both domestic and international sources. We also provide in-depth coverage with background stories, analyses from experts, and opinion pieces. Always explained in clear language for reading, listening, and viewing.

Breaking news is delivered to your main screen instantly through our push notifications. With over a million downloads, VRT NWS is therefore the most widely-used news app among quality sites.

VRT NWS is the most reliable source for impartial and quality news in Flanders.

VRT NWS is the news supply brand of the Flemish public broadcaster VRT. Informing the Flemish people is an essential task of the VRT. From its independent position, VRT NWS guarantees correct, factual and reliable information in times when the line between real and fake news is blurring. VRT NWS also provides explanation, background and context to the news, both locally and nationally and internationally. VRT NWS provides a differentiated and multimedia news supply via the channels of the other supply brands of the VRT, its own media platforms and social media.

VRT NWS wants to be and remain the most relevant news source in Flanders, and to inform every Flemish person about news from near and far. In order to maintain this relevance, the news service uses various channels to reach as many target groups in Flanders as possible.

Today, our society is increasingly confronted with an oversupply of information and disinformation. In this complex context, VRT NWS wants to be a guarantee of independent, reliable and impartial news and interpretation, and this in an accessible way.

VRT NWS wants to be close to the people and keep a finger on the pulse, bringing stories that are alive in Flemish society and the world. In this way, the public feels involved and people recognize themselves in the offer. The news service provides information that is useful to the Flemish, that is concrete, makes their daily lives easier and helps them form an opinion in order to play their role in society.

VRT NWS not only closely follows what is happening in Flanders and in the world. The news service also wants to set the news agenda itself, with its own stories and investigative journalism. Through in-depth research, matters are revealed and themes that are alive in society are further investigated. Highlighting different sides of the story, providing correct information, taking a nuanced look at what is going on... In this way, VRT NWS contributes to feeding the debate.

Customized news

VRT NWS wants to provide all Flemish people with news and interpretation. The news service ensures that the reporting is tailored to the flow of the day and tailored to the target group:

The reporting follows the media user throughout the day with tailored news content on the various platforms. After all, the need for information differs from moment to moment. In the morning you wake up with the news on the radio, in the car you follow an update on traffic, and in the evening you tune in to Het journaal, De afspraak or Terzake for news and more in-depth explanation of current affairs.

The news and the explanation are also adapted according to the target group. A news update on Radio 1 will differ from MNM in terms of the language used, the themes addressed, etc. This differentiation in tone and form is necessary to reach as many different target groups as possible. Tailored information has more impact than presenting the same thing to everyone.

Reliability as a foundation

VRT NWS distinguishes itself in terms of reliability. To guarantee that reliability, the news service has formulated a few spearheads:

Content expertise

The news service invests in building content expertise. Journalists are given the opportunity to follow certain areas of current events intensively over a longer period of time. This allows them to acquire the necessary background knowledge and build a network of contacts.

Theme editors

In addition to building up general expertise, the news service also focuses on specific areas such as politics, foreign affairs, justice, etc. These areas are covered by thematic editorial departments, which acquire expertise in the subject matter. The theme editors feed the broadcast editors with qualitative and reliable information, which makes it more transparent and clearer to put forward experts on crucial topics.

In addition, journalists are also working more and more on themes that concern the Flemish people: climate, migration, health... By taking into account what is going on in society, VRT NWS remains socially relevant and important in the lives of the Flemish people. The news service also has an eye for what is happening abroad: both the big breaking stories and the more hidden problems and forgotten conflicts are highlighted.  

Checking and double-checking

In today's media landscape, it is not always clear what is correct, and what is not. Disinformation is rearing its head more than ever and is unthinkable. VRT NWS wants to create clarity in this complex context and give the correct version of the facts. That requires checking and double-checking information. What is true, and what is not? What mechanisms are at play? By asking such questions, VRT NWS can continue to improve its journalistic work.

How does VRT combat disinformation?

1. Fact-checks and formats 

VRT NWS aims to respond to the needs of the Flemish people with several initiatives. The news department therefore publishes factchecks, clarifies articles on disinformation, and checks videos on the VRT NWS homepage and theme page. More than ever before, VRT also wants to help Flemish people factcheck themselves, via a new online video series in which our factcheckers share their tips and tricks with the public. You can see an example here. 

In addition, VRT NWS continues to work on new online concepts to fight fake news where it occurs most often: social media. On Instagram, the team of nws.nws.nws translates factchecks to meet the living worlds of young people. There are also plenty of concepts being developed for other online channels such as TikTok. 

Since December, VRT NWS has also been a recognised member of The International Factchecking Network, an international quality mark for media that do factchecking. 

Besides providing accurate and reliable information, VRT NWS also wants to maximise transparency. We therefore consistently share our sources and techniques when factchecking. This not only allows people to check us, but more importantly, it also gives them the skills to verify information themselves in a fast-changing digital world.

Luc Van Bakel, journalist at VRT NWS

2. (European) collaboration for maximum impact 

In 2022, the Flemish government granted financial support to two new projects on disinformation of which VRT is a partner. In 'First Aid for Doubt' (EHBT), VRT joins forces with, among others, the universities of Leuven, Brussels and Antwerp, as well as Roularta and Textgain. EHBT focuses on a large group of doubters, citizens who want to know what is real and what is not, but feel it has become increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction. Through innovative tools and formats, EHBT aims to empower doubting citizens on online platforms against disinformation and intervene when uncertainty prevails.  

In addition to 'First Aid for Doubt', VRT is also collaborating on 'Counterscam', which aims to make 18- to 34-year-old social media users, digital creators or others working creatively with digital media, aware of the impact of disinformation. Supported by deCheckers and Chase, factcheckers and influencers will work together to combat disinformation through narrative factchecks. 

VRT is also collaborating internationally to combat disinformation, promote media literacy and conduct research on the effectiveness of factchecks. Together with Textgain, the University of Leuven, Knack and Mediawijs, VRT joins forces within the Flemish-Dutch project 'BENEDMO', around a multidisciplinary network of disinformation experts so that factcheckers, academics, media organisations, media wisdom experts and other relevant social actors can reinforce each other with practical knowledge and scientific insights. The initiative is part of a larger European project (EDMO) in which several countries are working together to tackle disinformation in different languages.  

Finally, with the European project 'TITAN', VRT wants to use innovative ways to make citizens and specifically students themselves resilient to disinformation. VRT does this through an adapted teaching offer, automatically and tailor-made guided by a smart chatbot. Having doubts about an article? Ask the chatbot and it will help you think critically, so you can come to the conclusion yourself whether something is reliable or not. 

Disinformation is a complex, international challenge. That is why we work with expert partners in every project. Together with journalists, citizens and experts, we develop and validate new tools and formats. This dialogue and collaboration ensures that we can respond to the needs of different end users in a targeted way.

Chaja Libot, user researcher VRT Innovation