Unexplained allegations
NDR radio station boss is retiring for the time being
Sabine Rossbach is resting her activities for the time being. photo
© Marcus Brandt/dpa
At the ARD broadcaster NDR there are allegations against the head of the state broadcasting house in Hamburg. They are not resolved yet. Now there are personal consequences.
Due to allegations that have not yet been clarified, the state broadcasting director of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in Hamburg, Sabine Rossbach, is temporarily on hold. This was announced by the public broadcaster in Hamburg.
“Sabine Rossbach will rest her work at the Landesfunkhaus Hamburg in the coming weeks until the test results of the allegations are available. She has also announced that she will not return to her position permanently.”
NDR director Joachim Knuth said: Rossbach will clear the way for a new start in the state broadcasting center in the coming months. “We are now taking the time to clarify the allegations that are being made.”
The background is a report by the online medium “Business Insider”, which raised the question of whether Rossbach could have used her job to give family members benefits. Rossbach and Sender had rejected this in statements. Either she was not involved or had no influence and thus did not violate journalistic standards. At the same time, NDR announced that one aspect was being examined by NDR’s anti-corruption officer.
Afterwards, employees expressed their displeasure in a letter to the director and emphasized that one could no longer imagine a trusting cooperation with Rossbach.
The independent control body Landesrundfunkrat Hamburg also wants to meet in a special session. The allegations are taken very seriously, said Thomas Kärst, head of the committee. On Friday he said: “I am relieved that Sabine Rossbach’s step is paving the way for an impartial clarification of the allegations and for changes in the NDR Landesfunkhaus Hamburg. In my opinion, both are urgently needed.”
According to NDR, the provisional management of the state broadcasting center will be taken over by the deputy broadcasting director and radio director of NDR 90.3, Ilka Steinhausen. As a result, journalistic responsibility for all programs is now in her hands.
Together with the deputy director Andrea Lütke, Steinhausen assumes responsibility for the investigation processes. “An independent team of colleagues outside the Hamburg broadcasting center will carry out the journalistic processing of the cases in the room and the editorial processes,” said the ARD broadcaster.