More control, more transparency, more regionality: the state governments in Berlin and Potsdam have a draft for a new one rbb-Interstate Broadcasting Treaty presented. Some passages may be unconstitutional.
Has he rbb any luck? This is how you can understand the statements made by the media policy spokeswoman for the Greens in the Brandenburg state parliament, Petra Budke. At a panel discussion at… rbb Last Wednesday she said there had been discussions about it rbb to split up the Berlin part NDR to be assigned and the Brandenburg part to that MDR. A separate state broadcasting center in Brandenburg was also under discussion. “We as Brandenburg didn’t even bring all of this into this discussion,” said Budke.
Basically, all sides praise what is actually in the new draft state treaty. However, some passages are hotly debated. In the main committee of the Brandenburg state parliament on October 11th, for example. Marked there rbb-Intendant Ulrike Demmer describes the present draft in parts as an “intervention in the dem rbb “Independence guaranteed by the constitution”. He makes such detailed regulations that the requirement to be independent of the state can no longer be met. Criticism also comes from other places, for example from the rbb-Rundfunkrat, the employee representatives at the station.
The state governments reject the criticism. The states of Brandenburg and Berlin have legal supervision over the station. With reference to the events in rbb In the past year they want to exercise their control function more strongly. The state treaty should help with this.
But there is suspicion rbb, the policy has overstepped the mark. During the panel discussion, Steffen Grimberg, state chairman of the German Journalists’ Association in Berlin and Brandenburg, expressed his understanding that after the affair involving allegations of nepotism and waste, “the pendulum is swinging on the political side.” He did not want to assess whether the requirements from the draft contract already endanger the state’s distance from the state. However, some things are “impractical and experience has shown that they lead to more bureaucracy”.
“New quality of intervention” and higher costs?
One point in particular is causing particular excitement: in the future, the Broadcasting Council will elect a person every five years to head the respective state program in Berlin or Brandenburg. The people should also have a say in which journalists work for the state offers.
Up to now, decisions have usually been made about filling the directorship and director positions based on a proposal in the Broadcasting Council. These are management positions, so to speak rbb-Intendant Ulrike Demmer at the panel discussion. “With these program officers, program managers would now be elected by the Broadcasting Council for the first time. That means people who decide every day: Do we broadcast this, do we broadcast something else?” This is a new quality of intervention. In addition, the cross-border and cost-efficient work structures that now exist would be improved rbb destroyed again by the new positions.
The amendment also provides for a new office to be set up in Brandenburg an der Havel in order to increase its presence in the region. In addition, the regional programs should Evening show and Brandenburg Current be at least an hour long instead of 30 minutes every day.
The station rejects all of this, citing its programming and organizational sovereignty. Although there is agreement about strengthening the regional sector, they would rather invest money in journalism instead of in cost-intensive structures such as office rent. Because advertising time on the radio will be limited to 90 minutes in the future, he calculates rbb This means that the new requirements for 2024 will result in additional financial expenses of around eight million euros if the contract comes to pass.
Danger to journalism?
Last year, the news portal “Business Insider” from Axel Springer Verlag published the “rbbaffair” got rolling. Editor-in-chief Kayhan Özgenç welcomes the fact that the draft state treaty provides for more transparency and stronger financial control.
However, he considers state lines elected by the Broadcasting Council to be a danger. In an interview with the ARD-Politics magazine Contrasts He said that in this case politicians were abusing the scandal to influence the editorial team. “And that also makes me angry as a journalist,” said Özgenç.
Özgenç fears the example of rbb could in the ARD Setting an example that other state governments also want to expand their influence on their respective regional broadcasters. But even if no influence is exerted, the suspicion is already dangerous, added “Spiegel” editor Anton Rainer Contrasts: “I don’t think it’s in the interests of politics to create this impression.” The impression alone may be a problem.
Case for that Federal Constitutional Court?
The rbb has announced that it will sue if necessary. The broadcaster has also commissioned a legal report. The already available short report by the constitutional lawyer Joachim Wieland comes to the conclusion: According to the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court, the demand for separate management posts for the regional programs, which would be elected by the Broadcasting Council, contradicts the freedom of broadcasting enshrined in the constitution, because the Broadcasting Council also has a significant number of female politicians and politicians. “They shouldn’t have any influence on the radio program,” said Wieland Contrasts. The Broadcasting Council should control the program and not intervene in the program design.
Berlin and Brandenburg media politicians sharply rejected similar criticism at the panel discussion. They think that the Broadcasting Council is exactly the body where such an election belongs. Its composition reflects the diversity of society. There are currently only seven out of 30 members sent by the state parliaments. If the new state treaty comes into force, it will only be seven out of 33.
“Far from government control”
Petra Budke, the media policy spokeswoman for the Greens in the Brandenburg state parliament, made it clear during the panel discussion: “If you talk to the people in the country, then that is exactly what people are demanding.” More say in the rbb is exactly the goal. “And it’s not about control by a government. We’re a long way from that,” said Budke. The media policy spokesman for the CDU in the Berlin House of Representatives, Christian Goiny, also emphasized that it was not about censorship or political patronage.
The governments of Berlin and Brandenburg plan to approve the new state treaty at the beginning of November. It will then be sent to the state parliaments. You have the final say on the novella.