Briefly save democracy via broadcasting: The Bitburger Talks are dedicated to the “reform of public broadcasting”, which they do not see as an option, but as a survival strategy.
It was of course foreseeable that the word “unrealistic” would be used at some point. Legal conferences are always exercises in realism, and so the Bitburg talks on the “reform of public broadcasting” ended with a plea for the carpet to remain on. This part was taken on by Matthias Cornils, professor in Mainz, where the conference took place despite its name. He warned against overloading public broadcasting with expectations, especially with the task of becoming the great unifier in a fragmented society. It would be better to concentrate on what’s important, namely quality without pandering to supposed audience tastes, even if you lose a few viewers as a result. “In a free society we have no way of forcing people to watch the program.”