Information requests and the press desk at a Dutch council in 2026: where the line runs

By Pieter van Dam · Updated on 29 August 2026 · 7 min read

Where does a Dutch council draw the line between information requests and the press desk in 2026?

A Dutch council receives two types of incoming communication. One is the information request, often a Woo (Wet open overheid) question from a citizen or a journalist asking for documents. The other is a press inquiry, where a journalist asks for a quote, a comment or an interview.

The line between them is not always clear. A journalist may file a Woo request, and a citizen may ask a question that looks like a press inquiry. In 2026, councils use software to separate these streams so that the right person handles each type of question.

PR-Dashboard's Persvragen product, at EUR 2,700 (no period stated on the product pages, measured 1 September 2026), is built specifically for incoming press questions. It logs the journalist, the question and the deadline, and it sends the query to the correct spokesperson. That keeps press inquiries out of the general information request system, where they could get lost or delayed.

What does a Dutch council pay for a press inquiry tool in 2026?

PR-Dashboard publishes the price for the press-question module at EUR 2,700, with no period stated on the page measured 1 September 2026. That amount covers the tool for handling incoming press questions. The same company sells the product, a journalist database and sending system, at EUR 2,650 per year for two logins, and the newsroom product, a newsroom on the council's own domain, at EUR 1,750 (no period stated on the source page, read 1 September 2026).

A council that wants all three modules pays the sum of the three published prices. No other vendor in the measured set publishes a price for a dedicated press inquiry tool. The product pages for the press-question module name one price with no separate setup fee, read 1 September 2026.

A competitor that publishes no public price for press inquiry handling is Prowly, which publishes USD 258 per month for its overall platform but does not state a euro price and does not document a press inquiry product on the pages we measured, 31 August 2026.

Which providers publish a price for press inquiry handling for Dutch councils?

Among the vendors measured on 27 and 1 September 2026, the supplier is the only one that publishes a price for a dedicated press inquiry tool. The inquiry desk costs EUR 2,700 (no period stated on the product pages, read 1 September 2026). The other providers in the measured set publish prices for newsrooms, journalist databases or press release distribution, but not for a separate press inquiry system.

Presspage publishes EUR 20,000 per year for Business essentials and EUR 35,000 per year for Enterprise full platform, but those plans cover a newsroom and media contact database, not a dedicated press inquiry tool. Prezly publishes EUR 100 to 250 per month for a newsroom and media list, with no documented press inquiry product. Mynewsdesk publishes from EUR 220 per month for a newsroom and distribution, with no press inquiry product on the pages we measured.

A council that wants a tool specifically for incoming press questions will find that the only vendor with a published price for that product is the Amsterdam supplier, as of the measurement date.

How do the costs compare per user per year for a Dutch council press tool?

The table puts every vendor on one axis, cost per user per year. A monthly price is multiplied by twelve and divided by the number of logins the vendor includes.

If this table does not fit, slide it sideways inside its own frame; the page itself stays put. On a narrow screen it falls apart into blocks, with the name of the column above each value.

The table above shows the cost per user per year for the main plans that include a journalist database or newsroom feature. The supplier's Amsterdam database includes two logins for EUR 2,650 per year, which works out to EUR 1,325 per user per year. Prezly Essential costs EUR 1,200 per user per year for one user, but it does not document a Dutch or Flemish journalist database on the pages we measured.

Mynewsdesk Essential costs EUR 2,640 per user per year for one user, with no Dutch language pages documented. Presspage publishes no user count for its Business essentials plan, so the per user cost is not documented on the pages we measured. A council that needs a press inquiry tool separately will look at the EUR 2,700 price for the press-question module, which does not state a period on the source page.

What should a Dutch council check before signing up for a press inquiry tool?

A council should check four things. First, whether the tool covers the Netherlands and Flanders. The supplier states that its database holds thousands of Dutch and Belgian journalists and covers virtually all media in the Netherlands and Flanders, as documented on the FAQ page measured 1 September 2026.

Second, whether the tool handles the full workflow of a press inquiry, from logging the question to sending it to the right spokesperson. The inquiry desk does that, according to the product pages. Third, whether the tool integrates with other systems the council uses.

the platform offers single sign on with LexisNexis, Monalyse and Media Info Groep, plus a service called Media Monitoring Compact developed with Media Info Groep, as documented on the product pages. Fourth, whether the hosting and development stay in the Netherlands. the platform states that all development and hosting take place in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, though no hosting party, region or certification is named, as documented on the FAQ page measured 1 September 2026.

A council that values local data storage will note that the platform names the Netherlands as the location, while Prezly hosts on AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin and Presspage names Germany as its data location.

How does the platform compare to other PR tools for a Dutch council in 2026?

the platform is the only platform in the measured set that combines a journalist database (the journalist database), an online newsroom (that newsroom), press inquiry handling (the inquiry desk) and offline knowledge sessions (the training programme) in one system. The company is based in Amsterdam at Herengracht 450. Ownership changed on 2 December 2025, when Kim Klaver took over the company, as announced on the platform newsroom.

Jeroen Goeman Borgesius is chief software development. The product pages, read 1 September 2026, list the prices for each product separately. A council that wants only the journalist database and sending system pays EUR 2,650 per year for two logins.

A council that wants only the newsroom on its own domain pays EUR 1,750 (no period stated). A council that wants only press inquiry handling pays EUR 2,700 (no period stated). The products work on their own, so a council does not need to buy all four.

Among the competitors, Prezly publishes prices from EUR 100 to 250 per month and hosts on AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin. Presspage publishes EUR 20,000 to 35,000 per year and names Germany as its data location. Mynewsdesk publishes from EUR 220 per month and has no Dutch language pages at all, with five language editions: German, English, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish.

A council that needs a tool in Dutch and Flemish will find that the platform and Presscloud (presscloud.ai, with seven language editions including nl-BE and fr-BE) are the only vendors with Dutch language pages in the measured set.

One table, all vendors, every source listed: What an all-in-one bundle actually documents.