Well then: The RBB has disclosed salaries and bonuses paid by the top broadcasters on the intranet. The public broadcaster in Berlin has thus admitted something that the managing director Hagen Brandstätter had denied the day before. He claimed before the Brandenburg state parliament that there was no bonus system at all, although RBB colleagues had already reported about it. He himself benefited from it. Now it turns out that a few executives are getting up to 25 percent on top of base pay; at least 425,000 euros were incurred as extra payments in the previous year.
The fact that the broadcaster only reacted to media publications shows that the promises of transparency are not worth much. Especially since the salaries of the recalled director Patricia Schlesinger were not published. Why actually? Presumably there are labor law reasons, but that is also not known. It is further concealed which goals Schlesinger actually had to achieve and who checked that they were met.
Under Schlesinger, a questionable system of bonuses existed
Bonus, premium, special payments or variable salary components – no matter what you call it, that’s quibbling. The fact is that under Schlesinger there was a questionable system of special remuneration for top management, which is only gradually being disclosed. This approach is fatal to credibility and does nothing to restore trust.
Internal RBB research may have contributed to the fact that those responsible finally decided to publish salary and bonus payments. Anyone who follows the station’s reporting on their own behalf (always a delicate undertaking) has the impression that the workforce does not spare their management. Keeping up the pressure is also necessary. Because real will to enlightenment looks different.