Marjon van Royen (born 24 October 1957 in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

) is a Dutch journalist and foreign correspondent for the

NOS Journaal NOS Journaal is the umbrella name for the news broadcasts of the Dutch public broadcaster NOS on radio and television. The division of the NOS responsible for gathering and broadcasting the news is known as ''NOS Nieuws'', and is based at the Med ...

, the

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the List of languages by total number of speak ...

public radio and television news channel. She started her career as a freelance journalist in Italy in the 1980s. From 1991 to 2003 she worked for the daily newspaper

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by Mediahuis NRC. It is widely regarded as a newspaper of record in the country. History was first published on 1 October 1970 after a merger of the Amst ...

, covering national news and the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

(March 1994 to late 1995). In her reporting from former Yugoslavia she refused to take sides, which was not always appreciated. Henk Hofland, the

éminence grise An ''éminence grise'' () or gray eminence is a powerful decisionmaker or advisor who operates covertly in a nonpublic or unofficial capacity. The original French phrase referred to François Leclerc du Tremblay, the right hand man of Cardina ...

of Dutch journalism, described her reports from Bosnia as very good: "That was reporting in the most direct way and written in an excellent manner." In 1996 she became the correspondent for Latin America, based in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, working for NRC Handelsblad and the NOS. In 1999, she moved to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

(

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

). She left NRC Handelsblad in 2003, but continued to work for NOS radio and television until January 2013. In December 2000, she investigated the health impacts of aerial fumigations of coca cultivation in Colombia with the herbicide Roundup, which contains the active ingredient

glyphosate Glyphosate (IUPAC name: ''N''-(phosphonomethyl)glycine) is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide and crop desiccant. It is an organophosphorus compound, specifically a phosphonate, which acts by EPSP inhibitor, inhibiting the plant enzyme 5-en ...

. She found that "because the chemical is sprayed in Colombia from planes on inhabited areas, there have been consistent health complaints n humans Burning eyes, dizziness and respiratory problems being most frequently reported." In some areas, 80 percent of the children of the indigenous community fell sick with skin rashes, fever, diarrhoea and eye infections.Gek van de jeuk
NRC Handelsblad, December 28, 2000; for an English translation, see

/ref>Chemical War: Herbicides, drug crops and collateral damage in Colombia
After the Fact, Winter 2001 In 1993 she published her first book ''Italië op maandag'' (Italy on a Monday), which sold over 50,000 copies. In 2004, she published ''De nacht van de schreeuw'' (The Night of the Scream) about the absorbing account of a friendship between two women of very different classes and cultures.The Night of the Scream (De nacht van de schreeuw)
Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature (NLPVF)

References

External links

Personal website

Biography Marjon van Royen
Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature (NLPVF)
The Night of the Scream (De nacht van de schreeuw)
Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature (NLPVF) {{DEFAULTSORT:Royen, Marjon Van 1957 births Living people Journalists from The Hague Dutch newspaper editors Dutch women newspaper editors Dutch reporters and correspondents Dutch television journalists Dutch radio journalists