On Friday, ARD and ZDF announced planned changes to the “Mittagsmagazin” format. Drastic personnel decisions are now coming to light.
Berlin – With the goal of “a strong social signal for the further joint commitment of the ARD in East Germany”, the public broadcasting group has announced that it will relocate the production of the ARD episodes of the “Mittagsmagazin” from Berlin to Leipzig. Two members of the moderation team have now announced on Twitter that their contract will be terminated as part of the changeover.
The explosive thing: Nadia Kailouli and Aimen Abdulaziz-Said, who announced their approaching farewell to the format on Saturday with identical tweets, are both people of color. In their announcement, they gave the reason for the end of their activity that the future moderation should probably “have an East German background” according to the broadcaster. Kailouli had moderated the ARD lunchtime magazine since 2020, and Abdulaziz-Said has been working for the ARD team on the show since 2021.
ARD midday magazine is intended to strengthen “nationwide visibility of East German realities of life”.
It is now questionable whether the two are the only ones with whom the ARD Mittagsmagazin is not extending its cooperation, or whether others will no longer be in charge of the format. From the current moderation team, consisting of Kailouli, Abdulaziz-Said, Philipp Menn, Susann Reichenbach and Sascha Hingst, the latter two come from Saxony and East Berlin. Kailouli comes from North Rhine-Westphalia, Abdulaziz-Said grew up in Hamburg. It is unclear whether Menn, who also comes from North Rhine-Westphalia, will continue to be employed.
What is already known from the joint press release by ARD, ZDF and MDR is the statement by MDR director Karola Wille, who emphasized that by taking over the production of the midday magazine through her broadcaster, she wanted to strengthen “the nationwide visibility of East German realities of life”. In addition, the broadcasters announced that they wanted to extend the broadcasting time of the midday program to two hours in order to create “more space for relevant and diverse topics, close to the people and in dialogue with them”. The midday magazine is always produced alternately by ARD and ZDF.
Innovations in the ARD lunchtime magazine: ARD boss thanked the previous team
The hitherto unconfirmed personnel decision has already been the subject of lively discussion on Twitter, and the “discrimination” against East Germans has been compared to racist hostilities towards people of colour. Other users are already venting their indignation. After the RBB scandal, public broadcasters could face the next big wave of criticism.
Meanwhile, the official ARD announcement concludes with a quote from ARD chairman Kai Gniffke, who is looking forward to “a new stage, a new era of the ‘midday magazine’ with the MDR” and the “colleagues from RBB who have so far been responsible for the ‘ Mittagsmagazin’, sends a heartfelt “thank you”. (saka)