Johny Vansevenant

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Moderator
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Who is Johny Vansevenant?

Johny is the most experienced political journalist at the VRT and one of the most famous radio voices on the newsdesk. He has been monitoring national politics for the radio since 1988. He was a reporter during the last government of prime minister Martens and spent many nights at the castle of Hertoginnedal for the cross-community Sint-Michiels agreement established at the start of the Dehaene government. And he was also in attendance when the Globaal Plan was compiled, which identified austerity measures so that Belgium could join the Euro.

Vansevenant is often asked to moderate political debates as well as discussions on important public and socio-economic themes. He uses specific questions to perfectly identify differences between panel members. Cycling is his second passion, and he regularly oversees cycling-related evenings with elite cyclists from the 60s and 70s. His biography about Eddy Merckx became a real bestseller.

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    The struggle for power - My life in the Law Street

    3 kings, 4 state reforms, 9 prime ministers:

    35 years of power struggles through the eyes of a key witness

    Johny Vansevenant is the best-known voice on Wetstraat. He is one of the journalists there with the longest track record. He has been following Belgian politics from the front row as a political reporter for radio news for more than three decades. In his book, he takes the reader to the most important moments in that recent history. In his typical style - crystal clear, neutral and unbiased - he writes about all the major crises in the Wetstraat and explains why politicians make the choices they do.

    The struggle for power starts with the last Martens government and ends with the governments of Prime Minister De Croo and Prime Minister Jambon. Vansevenant saw how the power of the traditional political parties crumbled. He saw how crudely the political game is played. He reveals how behind-the-scenes reporting comes about. He bases this on his personal diaries and the VRT archive, which he listened to all over again. Especially for this book, he also interviews several top politicians who look back on the biggest turning points.

    A unique insider's look behind the scenes of the Wetstraat: full of sincere statesmanship, political wrangling and scandals from Martens to De Croo.

    Johny Vansevenant will lecture from September 2024 on the many shifts in our political landscape during this long period.

    Book: 35 years 'Wetstraatjournalistiek' (law journalism)

    Johny Vansevenant is one of the Wetstraat journalists with the longest track record. He has been following politics for VRT radio news since the late 1980s. In September 2024, he will publish a book about those 35 years of Wetstraat journalism. He was in the front row as a reporter all those years. He tells about the last government of Prime Minister Martens, a government that fell in the fall of 1991 over the supply of Walloon weapons to the Middle East.

    During that reign, the abortion law was approved by a swing majority. Shortly thereafter, the royal house rocked when King Baudouin refused to sign that abortion law. After "Black Sunday" with the breakthrough of the Vlaams Blok, Prime Minister Dehaene came to power. His government was given a hard time by Guy Verhofstadt's newly formed VLD. Dehaene's cabinet came under pressure from the Agusta smear money affair that affected the PS and the SP. The highlight of that affair was the resignation of NATO Secretary General Willy Claes. Dehaene's second government had to deal with child murderer Dutroux and went down with the dioxin crisis. This was followed by the purple (green) governments of Prime Minister Verhofstadt and the CD&V-N-VA cartel caused a revolution in Belgian politics. The CD&V'ers Leterme and Van Rompuy thus came to power.

    The subsequent governments of Di Rupo, Michel, Wilmès and De Croo also receive ample attention. The evolutions in the Flemish government are also given plenty of attention. Vansevenant is at home in the political world like no other. With striking first-hand anecdotes, he outlines the many shifts in the Wetstraat. He also makes ample use of quotes from the rich VRT archive. Leading figures from the past and present also give their views on the political events of the past 35 years.

    Johny Vansevenant will lecture from September 2024 on the many shifts in our political landscape during this long period.

    Behind the scenes of politics and the media

    Vansevenant talks very passionately about his job as journalist. Because he has professionally followed politics since the late 80s, no one is better placed to make comparisons between the various eras. He receives information from top politicians and their staff on a daily basis. His analyses of the latest political situation are thus always up-to-date. He gives the audience the chance to take a look behind the scenes. He also uses his extensive experience to assess the media landscape.

    1969, the year of Eddy Merckx

    Author Johny Vansevenant is one of the most knowledgeable experts on the Merckx era in the world of cycling and has a lot of interesting thoughts to share about this time. Thanks to four books about Merckx, he possesses a wide range of anecdotes about cycling in the 60s and 70s, when our champions dominated the sport of cycling.

    No other cyclist has ever dominated cycling as Eddy Merckx did in 1969, which is now over 50 years ago. Although he won an impressive series of top races that year, Eddy Merckx also suffered a lot of drama in 1969.

Johny Vansevenant is very professional and we were very satisfied with him. He was fully prepared for our event and used his experience to take control and offer us a really enjoyable evening. In short, very positive.

Gilles Dujardin

Febev

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On behalf of the Gezinsraad, I would hereby like to thank you for your fantastic job as moderator last night in Beveren. I received many compliments during the discussion afterwards, and that was mainly down to you.

Pieter VAN BASTELAERE

Chairman Gezinsraad Beveren

Johny Vansevenant perfectly managed the 50th anniversary of entrepreneurs organisation NSZ, in both Dutch and French. He did this in an entertaining manner, clearly knew what he was talking about and made sure everything was light-hearted and enjoyable.

Christine Mattheeuws

NSZ chairman

On 6 December, ie-net ingenieursvereniging organised a very topical energy debate called ‘The energy pact: what now?’. Moderator Johny Vansevenant suitably introduced the speakers and then perfectly supervised a fairly lively - and sometimes fierce - debate between six politicians. It was a fairly difficult assignment, which Vansevenant completed successfully in a very professional manner.

Frederic Heymans

ie-net ingenieursvereniging vzw

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Johny Vansevenant is a very alert moderator, and is always to the point. He gives everyone a thorough grilling and is truly a household name in the political arena. We received a lot of praise from the audience.

Michel De Sutter

Lions Club Meetjesland Eeklo

In front of a sold-out hall, VRT radio journalist, political reporter and author Johny Vansevenant presented his story in a truly fascinating manner and answered all questions that were thrown at him.

Davidsfonds

Ledegem

I have now read the whole book about Merckx. Once again, congratulations on this fantastic achievement. You deserve a Masters in ‘Merckx studies’. I also enjoyed reading about Merckx as a person; your insights were very valuable.

Marc Fourneau

Organiser cycling events Waregem

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Thanks for the fantastic support during last night's debate. Many people have told us that it was a very fascinating and entertaining evening.

Ann-Sofie Daem

Coordinator De Warande