Patricia Schlesinger is also stepping down as artistic director of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg. The RBB announced this on Sunday evening. Schlesinger had already resigned from the ARD presidency on Thursday evening. The pressure to vacate their posts has increased over the past few weeks and days, as accusations against them have become ever more widespread – they concern, among other things, the award of consultancy contracts, a multi-million dollar RBB real estate project, the settlement of dinners in Schlesinger’s private apartment, her company car, her salary and, most recently, the remodeling of her director’s floor at the RBB.
Schlesinger had already informed the chairmen of the broadcasting council and the board of directors of the RBB, Friederike von Kirchbach and Dorette König, in the afternoon, according to the RBB statement. These accepted Schlesinger’s resignation.
Your responsibility, Patricia Schlesinger is quoted as saying, applies to the RBB and its employees. At the moment, the focus is no longer on the broadcaster’s journalistic and publishing performance, it’s just about “possible and alleged misconduct” by the director. “I very much regret that and I apologize to the employees of the RBB for this development,” said Schlesinger. For her, the withdrawal is a logical consequence of her promise to always and first stand up for the interests of the RBB. “At the same time, personal accusations and defamation have reached a level that makes it personally impossible for me to continue in office. I hope that with this step I will make it easier to clarify the allegations.”
Schlesinger has been director of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg since 2016, the comparatively small broadcaster that took over the chairmanship of ARD in January. Since the end of June, more and more details from Schlesinger’s office have been made public at regular intervals, and the magazine only published this Sunday Business Insider Schlesinger’s bonus, the picture-Newspaper cost of the hardwood floor in their office. In a situation in which the broadcaster had to constantly respond to information and allegations, staying in office seemed impossible. Especially since the allegations for which she has already given up the ARD presidency primarily concern the RBB. Hagen Brandstätter, the deputy director of the public broadcaster, is now taking over the management of the RBB.
Friederike von Kirchbach, Chairwoman of the RBB Broadcasting Council, calls Schlesinger’s resignation “the right step” in the current situation. The extensive allegations could now be clarified independently of everyday business in the RBB. In the RBB announcement, Kirchbach thanks Schlesinger for her decision that the Broadcasting Council will deal with the new situation in a special session on Monday.
Public broadcasting, Schlesinger explains, is under a lot of pressure to justify itself. Linear and non-linear, the RBB proves every day why it is indispensable for society. The RBB must be able to devote itself to this task.