The grande dame of Flemish television journalism is no more and that touches a lot of people deeply. The many reactions in the digital mourning register for Martine Tanghe show that a personal bond is not necessary to be touched by a death. “This isn’t sensationalism, it’s connection.”
Paul Notelteirs24 July 2023, 18:31
When more than 2 million people watch her last broadcast as news anchor of Het Jonaal in November 2020, the ever-modest Martine Tanghe (67) can hardly deny that the country took her to her heart. Her hopeful final message about the pandemic is widely shared and the journalist receives a Decoration of Honor from the Flemish Community and the Grand Prize Jan Wauters. With her death last weekend, it becomes clear that out of sight is not out of mind. On social media, viewers of yesteryear do their best to honor the news anchor with the most beautiful superlatives, and thousands of messages have already entered the digital funeral register of the public broadcaster.
The raw emotion may seem remarkable because most people didn’t know Tanghe personally, but grief expert Manu Keirse understands where the feelings come from. For 42 years, the journalist brought world news to Flemish living rooms and thereby became part of the daily life of many citizens. When famous people like them die, it’s almost inevitable that people will reflect on the impact they had on their lives. For musicians, for example, it concerns specific memories of songs, in the case of Tanghe, the focus of the general public is more on how she was able to keep calm in turbulent news times. “She was also an identification figure for the Flemish people,” says Keirse. “People took an example from her.” Outside the journalistic sector, she was praised for her language sensitivity and her excellent pronunciation of Dutch. “Our native language has lost its mother,” author Erwin Mortier tweeted earlier.
The specific choice to describe Tanghe as a parent is apt. Just as children initially assume that their parents are immortal, the existence of an institution like theirs has long felt obvious. Her death therefore reminds others of their own transience, says Keirse. “A buffer disappears between yourself and death, which can trigger fierce reactions.”
Image Damon De Backer
The mourning is undoubtedly harder for Tanghe’s personal friends and loved ones, but psychotherapist Johan Maes agrees that people can indeed suffer from the death of a public figure. “For example, many recognize elements from their own lives in the story of the deceased.” Many cancer patients and their families also struggle with the balance to look to the future despite the difficult diagnosis. Now that it has become clear that the journalist navigated between news studio and hospital in the last years of her life, this has provoked a lot of reactions.
Meaning
Collective mourning on a large scale is usually reserved for the death of international superstars and for social traumas such as the terrorist attacks in Brussels or the Sierre bus disaster. The flood of reactions on social media can be quite overwhelming at such times, but Keirse refuses to speak of mass hysteria. “It’s not sensationalism, it’s connection.”
By grieving together, people try to make sense of a death and find the strength to carry on. Sometimes that attention goes against the personal wishes of the deceased and their families. “I am just a speck in the universe,” Tanghe said in De Morgen last summer. “Let me stay in the background.” These are words that are difficult to reconcile with the national attention that she is now receiving posthumously, but at the same time the commemoration is also about how the survivors should move on. “A person who is dead has nothing to worry about. The others have to give meaning to their existence,” says Keirse. As long as there is respect for the direct relatives of a public figure, collective mourning is justified.
The many reactions on digital forums also show how great the need for collective mourning rituals is. Where religion used to map out clear scenarios for saying goodbye to the dead as a community, today processing is generally more individualistic. The grand funerals with mourners in black clothing are now more often exchanged for more intimate services – Martine Tanghe’s farewell ceremony will also take place in a private circle. That clashes somewhat with the massive attention that usually accompanies the death of a celebrity.
“Grieving is not the same as letting go of the dead, but it is seeking a different way of connecting with them. Rituals help with that,” says Maes. That is precisely why it is useful that the VRT also offers fans of Tanghe the opportunity to place a message in the online mourning register. “It is as if public broadcasting is ringing the old church bells in a modern way,” says Keirse. In this way space is created to commemorate Tanghe in a public way without bringing out the grand gesture and completely ignoring her personal preference for modesty.
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2023-07-24 16:31:29
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