It is a bang and unprecedented in the history of public broadcasting: the directors of all other ARD broadcasters withdraw their trust from the management of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg. “We, the directors of the ARD, no longer have confidence that the station’s management will be able to process the various incidents quickly enough,” said WDR director Tom Buhrow on Saturday, who after the resignation of Patricia Schlesinger the ARD -had taken the chair. The bosses from the eight other state institutions within the ARD are increasing the pressure on the RBB management team. Her statement is a clear signal to Hagen Brandstätter, acting director of the station, and the current management team to resign. With a view to the public debates, the resignations and the internal displeasure of the workforce, Buhrow told the dpa: “It seems so unstable that one can say that there is a risk that the structures of the RBB will begin to dissolve.” In the affair about allegations of nepotism, these statements mark a temporary high point.
There is also a great deal of distrust in management among the workforce. The editorial committee of the RBB, which represents the interests of the journalists in the house, expressly distanced itself from its own station management on Saturday evening and called on Brandtäter’s top management to resign. “Other, flatter and really transparent structures are now needed,” the editors demand.
She is supported by a trade union: the German Association of Journalists (DJV) is also calling for a quick and convincing new start at the head of the RBB in the interests of the employees. The DJV does not see the management of the acting RBB boss Hagen Brandstätter attempting to create the required transparency for bonuses and other unexplained processes. “After the director’s departure, the Schlesinger system lives on. This must finally come to an end,” says federal chairman Frank Überall.
More than 30,000 euros in addition for the administrative director
The RBB management disclosed their remuneration for the first time this week – days of public debates about a bonus system for high-ranking executives had preceded it. A total of 27 RBB executives are said to have received additional “performance-related remuneration” for achieving certain corporate goals. Administrative director Hagen Brandstätter, for example, will receive a basic salary of 230,000 euros this year. In terms of additional remuneration, he came up with 30,738 euros last year.
On Saturday evening, RBB broadcast a special and once again reported on the crisis in-house. At first, however, there was nothing from the acting management. Brandstäter and his team did not want to comment, the moderator said. There was another personnel consequence to report. A few days ago, the Broadcasting Council of the RBB dismissed his director Patricia Schlesinger and thus formally initiated the termination of the contract. On Saturday morning, the chairman of this control body surprisingly resigned himself.
In a message, the RBB had already stated on Saturday afternoon that Friederike von Kirchbach was giving up her post “with immediate effect”. “The RBB is about to make a new start,” Kirchbach is quoted there as saying. With the dismissal of Patricia Schlesinger, your broadcasting council cleared the way for new structures and people in the station. In the future, she sees “new responsibility for those responsible,” which is why she is resigning, said von Kirchbach. For her, the current debate is not about people, but “the thing is in the foreground” for her. The previous work of the Broadcasting Council must also be viewed self-critically.
Friederike von Kirchbach resigns from her office as Chair of the RBB Broadcasting Council.
(Photo: Gerald Matzka/dpa)
Von Kirchbach had been a member of this supervisory body since 2007 and chaired it since 2013. She worked full-time as a pastor until her retirement in 2021. The Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg had also sent her to the Broadcasting Council. When the allegations against RBB director Patricia Schlesinger became known a few weeks ago, von Kirchbach attracted more media interest and became a sought-after interview partner. After all, the Broadcasting Council, which she chaired, is responsible not only for program control but also for appointing directors.
Both control bodies of the station are now under provisional leadership
Over the past week, debates within the station have become more personal. At an RBB staff meeting, about the the Berlin newspaper reported in detail, it should also have been about how close the chair of the Broadcasting Council from Kirchbach was to other RBB executives. The local newspaper wrote of an “RBB clan” in which one boss in her capacity as a pastor, i.e. von Kirchbach, had married the other bosses. It is possible that von Kirchbach is now referring to this debate when she explains that she is not prepared to have her professional integrity as a pastor and pastor called into question. “This is happening publicly and is unacceptable to me,” she said.
After her resignation, the deputy chairman of the Broadcasting Council, Dieter Pienkny, will take over the official business for the time being. Since Wolf-Dieter Wolf, the chairman of the board of directors, resigned almost two weeks ago, the chairs of both control bodies of the station are now only provisionally occupied in the midst of this crisis. On Monday, the RBB board of directors should also make one of the most important decisions: it should advise on the specific termination of Patricia Schlesinger’s contract.