In a new position paper, the Greens are calling for leaner management of public broadcasting. And express criticism of ARD.
The Green Federal Executive Board has made proposals for a reform of public broadcasting and has also called for a leaner administration. “A high-quality program is personnel and cost-intensive. Sustainable business is essential. The goal is clear: more editorial work, less administration,” says the paper approved on Monday.
In administration in particular, modern and efficient structures, a bundling of resources and a “consistent” reduction of bureaucratic and innovation-inhibiting double structures are needed. The “Tagesspiegel” first reported on the Greens’ reform proposals. The paper was also available to the German Press Agency in Berlin on Tuesday.
Criticism of the regionality of the ARD
The Greens are in favor of regionally anchored, citizen-oriented broadcasting. The institutions are called upon to seek even greater direct exchange with the audience and to develop new concepts for this purpose. “The regionality that we want does not mean, however, that every ARD station produces its own health magazine or has to operate a 24-hour classical music wave,” it continues. The plans to set up ARD-wide competence centers, for example in the areas of health, consumers and climate, show a good way forward. Opportunities for cooperation between broadcasters need to be expanded.
The Greens emphasize that public broadcasting now provides fact-checking services in order to counteract increased disinformation and correct false information spread online. “It is important to examine where an expansion of this offer makes sense.” This new role requires additional resources, but also cooperation with other journalistic providers from the online and press sectors.
Broadcasting fees remain a controversial topic
The Greens want to depoliticize the question of how high the broadcasting fee should be. “We propose to establish an indexed inflation compensation for the broadcasting fee, supplemented by a rationalization discount set by the KEF,” says the paper. This would give the institutions security “that general inflation will also be covered for them, while at the same time providing an incentive to keep structures efficient.” The KEF is the commission for determining the financial needs of broadcasters.
So far, the federal states – first the prime ministers and then all the state parliaments – decide on the amount of the contribution. You must closely follow the KEF recommendation. The broadcasting fee that households and companies pay essentially finances public broadcasting with ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio. The height is always controversially discussed.
