Former editor-in-chief of Folia Arjan Paans has passed away

Former editor-in-chief of Folia, Arjan Paans, passed away on Tuesday, January 17. He was editor-in-chief of Folia until recently, succeeding Altan Erdogan. In the short time that Arjan worked at Folia - he went on sick leave after only four months due to a serious and incurable illness - the editors got to know him as a driven and unconventional man, who wanted to try things off the beaten path to lead the nearly 75-year-old Folia into a new era.

Arjan Paans was a very experienced journalist. Before coming to Folia, he had worked in various positions at the Dutch daily newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD), where he had also been deputy editor-in-chief. In addition, he was editor-in-chief of Metro and interim editor-in-chief of Erasmus Magazine, the publication of Erasmus University in Rotterdam. Since May 2018, he was editor-in-chief of a start-up, an online medium called Innovations Origins, a digital journalism platform with news and background on technology and (sustainable) innovation.

Future

Upon his appointment, he said that the internationalization of the UvA would be “the biggest challenge, but also an obligation for Folia” in the coming years. “We write our stories in Dutch and sometimes in English, but this is not yet enough. This unfortunately means that an important segment of the UvA community is currently unable to get as much news as it could. I am committed to serving all UvA nationalities equally.” He also said that Folia had “already accomplished a lot of great things” in the video medium and wanted to build on that. He wanted to start making podcasts with Folia “and strengthen contact with our target audience through social media.” His plans and ideas for Folia did not materialize, but the editors will carry on with them.

Arjan Paans, son of former editor-in-chief of the wellknown weekly VPRO-magazine, Boudewijn Paans who died in 2021, leaves behind a wife and son. Arjan was 53.