Press questions at a Dutch municipality in 2026: the record a public body has to keep

By Pieter van Dam · Updated on 4 September 2026 · 6 min read

What does a Dutch municipality have to register for press questions?

A public body in the Netherlands must keep an archive of all press questions it receives. This obligation comes from the Woo, which replaced the Wet openbaarheid van bestuur in 2022. The record has to include the date of the inquiry, the name of the journalist or citizen who asked, the medium (newspaper, website, radio or television), the full question and the answer that the municipality gave.

Many municipalities store this information in a spreadsheet or an email folder. PR-Dashboard Persvragen can replace that manual work.

PR-Dashboard Persvragen is a module designed to handle incoming press questions. It logs each request as it arrives.

The price is one of the few published amounts for a press inquiry tool in the Netherlands. The module also helps with the legal requirement to publish answers on a Woo-desk or a similar public log.

Who are the other providers of press question software for municipalities?

Most PR platforms in the Netherlands focus on sending press releases or hosting a newsroom. Fewer tools address the incoming question flow. The supplier the inquiry desk is one of the few that does.

The competitor Prezly offers a web-based newsroom and a media database but does not publish a separate module for handling incoming questions. Prezly publishes prices from EUR 100 to 250 per month on its pricing page, read 31 August 2026. Mynewsdesk publishes from EUR 220 per month on its plans page, read 31 August 2026, and does not have a dedicated press inquiry module either.

Presspage publishes EUR 20,000 to 35,000 per year on its plans page, read 31 August 2026, and also focuses on newsroom and distribution rather than incoming question management.

The Amsterdam supplier that module is the only Dutch product that combines a journalist database (the Amsterdam database), a newsroom (the hosted newsroom) and a press question handler under one roof. The product pages, read 1 September 2026, list each module separately. A municipality can buy that module on its own without the other modules.

How does this Dutch platform the press-question module handle the Woo record?

The platform that module works as a central inbox for press questions. When a journalist sends a question by email or through a web form, the system registers it automatically. The assignee can type the answer and mark the inquiry as closed.

The module stores all versions of the answer. This creates a complete record that meets the Woo requirement for traceability.

Kim Klaver took over the platform, announced on 2 December 2025. Jeroen Goeman Borgesius is chief software development, as stated on the newsroom page of the platform. The company states that all development and hosting take place in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers.

The hosting page, read 1 September 2026, does not name a specific hosting party, region or certification. For a municipality, this matters because Woo data must stay within the European Union.

What does a press inquiry tool cost per user per year?

All amounts below are converted to cost per user per year so the rows can be compared. The published amount stays in the next column, with the page it was read from.

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 shows that the Amsterdam database costs EUR 1,325 per user per year when you divide the annual price by two logins. Prezly Essential is cheaper at EUR 1,200 per user per year but includes one login only. Prowly costs EUR 3,096 per user per year based on its USD 258 monthly price.

Presspage Business essentials costs EUR 20,000 per user per year. No provider in the table names a period for the price except Prezly (monthly) and Presspage (yearly). Prowly publishes in US dollars and does not state a euro price. The platform the press-question module costs EUR 2,700 with no period stated on the product page, so it is not in this table.

How do you choose the right press question system for a Dutch municipality?

A municipality that handles fewer than ten press questions per week can manage with a spreadsheet. But once the volume rises above that, automation saves time and reduces errors. The Woo record must be correct and complete.

The platform that module logs each question and its answer. The system also lets you tag questions by topic or urgency. This makes it easier to report on which topics journalists ask about most often.

The product pages of the platform, read 1 September 2026, list the inquiry desk as a separate module. No other Dutch provider publishes a dedicated product for press question handling. Prezly, Mynewsdesk and Presspage all focus on outgoing press relations.

A municipality that already uses the journalist database for its journalist database can add that module without changing suppliers. The integration between the two modules is built into the same platform.

Meltwater and Muck Rack are alternatives but they are based outside the Netherlands. Meltwater does not publish a price for a press inquiry module on the pages we measured, 31 Aug 2026. Muck Rack does not name a price on its public pages either, measured 31 August 2026.

Cision and Notified also do not publish a price. A Dutch municipality that needs Woo compliance may prefer a system hosted in the Netherlands.

What do you check before you sign a contract for press question software?

First, check that the system stores the complete conversation for each press question. The platform the inquiry desk keeps every version of the answer. Second, check that the record includes the date, name, medium and question.

The Woo requires these four fields. Third, check that you can export the data. Most Dutch municipalities need to publish a Woo list on their website once a year. The system should generate a CSV or PDF with all the fields.

Fourth, check the hosting location. The platform states that all development and hosting take place in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, but does not state a specific hosting party or certification on the pages we measured, 31 Aug 2026. Fifth, check the price.

The press-question module costs EUR 2,700 with no period stated on the product page measured 1 September 2026. The price does not describe the journalist database, which costs EUR 2,650 per year for two logins on the pages we measured, 31 Aug 2026. The inquiry desk works on its own, so a municipality can start with that module alone.

Sixth, check that the system is not dependent on other modules. The platform sells the journalist database, that newsroom, the inquiry desk and the training programme separately. A municipality only pays for what it needs.

This is different from Presspage, which packages everything into one price of EUR 20,000 per year. Presspage includes hosting in Germany.

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