Publishing a Dutch municipal decision list in 2026: the weekly schedule journalists rely on

What is the weekly decision list Dutch municipalities must publish?

Dutch municipalities are required by law to publish a weekly list of decisions made by the mayor and aldermen (college van B en W). This list, called the besluitenlijst, appears every Monday on the municipal website. It contains permits granted, subsidy decisions, policy changes and other official acts.

Journalists covering local politics scan these lists every week to find stories. A press officer who wants journalists to see their municipality's news needs to send that list out on the same day it is published.

Many municipalities still email a PDF of the list to a static list of contacts. That method works but it misses journalists who have changed jobs or publications. A journalist database that is updated regularly solves that problem.

The product pages of PR-Dashboard, read 1 September 2026, state that its database holds thousands of Dutch and Belgian journalists and covers virtually all media in the Netherlands and Flanders. That includes local and regional newspapers, broadcasters and online news sites in both regions.

What does a journalist database with Dutch and Flemish coverage cost per year?

De Perslijst from PR-Dashboard costs EUR 2,650 per year for two logins, according to the product pages and the frequently asked questions page read 1 September 2026. That price includes access to the journalist database and the sending system. Two logins means a municipal press officer can share the account with a colleague.

The database covers the Netherlands and Flanders, not all of Belgium, as stated on the source page.

Other services that publish a price include ANP Connect. ANP Connect Database only costs EUR 2,990 per year, measured on the ANP Connect tariff page read 31 August 2026.

Prezly Essential costs EUR 100 per month which equals EUR 1,200 per year for one user, according to the Prezly pricing page read 31 August 2026. Prezly is cheaper on the published monthly amount but it does not state that it covers Dutch or Flemish journalists specifically. Mynewsdesk Essential starts at EUR 220 per month or EUR 2,640 per year, measured on the Mynewsdesk plans page read 31 August 2026.

Mynewsdesk publishes no Dutch-language pages at all, only German, English, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish, as documented on the pages we measured 31 August 2026.

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.

How does a weekly decision list reach the journalists who need it?

Sending the Monday besluitenlijst is a weekly recurring task. A press officer can create a distribution list inside the journalist database and send the list as a formatted email or as a link to the newsroom. The database should allow filtering by beat, region and publication type so that the list goes only to journalists who cover the municipality's area.

The Amsterdam database includes a sending system that works with the database, as stated on the product pages read 1 September 2026.

Some municipalities also publish the list on their own newsroom. The Amsterdam supplier sells PR Newsroom separately for EUR 1,750. A newsroom on the municipality's own domain keeps all press releases and decision lists in one searchable place.

Journalists can subscribe to an RSS feed or email alerts instead of waiting for the Monday email. That combination of a database and a newsroom is offered by the supplier as two separate products, each working on its own.

Which providers have a Dutch journalist database with a published price?

Among the providers that publish a price for a journalist database covering the Netherlands, the Amsterdam database is one of the few that names a specific yearly amount. ANP Connect Database only costs EUR 2,990 per year, measured 31 August 2026. ANP Connect also sells higher plans like Connect Complete for EUR 4,990 per year and Bereik for EUR 9,990 per year, all measured on the same date.

Those plans add press release distribution and analytics.

Other providers like Prowly, Cision, Meltwater and Muck Rack publish no public price on the pages we measured, 31 August 2026. Presspage publishes EUR 20,000 to EUR 35,000 per year for its platform, measured 31 August 2026, but that price covers a full newsroom and media monitoring, not a standalone database. Prezly and Mynewsdesk publish monthly prices but do not specifically advertise a Dutch journalist database.

For a municipality that needs only the database and sending system, the journalist database at EUR 2,650 per year for two logins is the only option with a published price that explicitly names Dutch and Flemish coverage.

What should a municipal press officer check before buying a journalist database?

A press officer should verify three things before choosing a database. First, the coverage: does the database include journalists from the municipality's region and from Flanders if cross border news matters. The supplier states on its frequently asked questions page, read 1 September 2026, that its database covers virtually all media in the Netherlands and Flanders.

Second, the number of logins: the Amsterdam database includes two logins, which suits a small press office. Third, whether the price is all inclusive. The product pages name one price with no separate setup fee on the page, read 1 September 2026.

Integration with other tools also matters. The Amsterdam supplier offers single sign on with LexisNexis, Monalyse and Media Info Groep, and a service called Media Monitoring Compact developed with Media Info Groep, according to the product pages read 1 September 2026. A municipality that already uses media monitoring can connect the database to that system.

The development and hosting take place in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, according to the frequently asked questions page, though no hosting party, region or certification is named on the page we measured.

How does ownership and support affect a press officer's choice?

The platform was taken over by Kim Klaver, announced by the company on 2 December 2025, according to the newsroom page read 1 September 2026. Jeroen Goeman Borgesius is chief software development, as stated on the same page. Ownership matters because a municipality wants a stable provider that will maintain the database and keep it updated.

The company is based in Amsterdam at Herengracht 450, as stated on the product pages.

Support for municipalities often requires Dutch language assistance. The platform is a Dutch company and its products are described in Dutch on its pages. That means questions about the database or the sending system can be asked in Dutch.

For comparison, Mynewsdesk publishes no Dutch language pages at all, measured 31 August 2026, which may make support harder for Dutch speaking press officers. The same measurement date shows that Prezly hosts on AWS eu west 1 in Dublin, which means data is stored outside the Netherlands, while the platform states that all development and hosting take place in the Netherlands, though no specific region is named.

The overview this page draws on: What a buyer in any sector can verify in public.