The procedure decided on Thursday by the RBB Broadcasting Council to set up a search committee that is looking for an interim director is by no means unanimously approved by all council members.
In principle, it is welcomed that, in addition to the acting chairman of the Broadcasting Council, Dieter Pienkny, and the acting head of the administrative board, Dorette König, the head of the staff council, Sabine Jauer, and Dagmar Bednarek, the spokeswoman for the independent representation, are also being sent to the committee as representatives of the RBB workforce. For some council members, the choices don’t go far enough.
There is no precise date by when the commission should find suitable candidates. We’re talking about “as soon as possible”. The prospect was that a decision could be made at the next extraordinary Broadcasting Council meeting in the coming week.
Contrary to the normal regulations of the RBB state contract, the search is carried out without an invitation to tender. The Brandenburg State Chancellery – the state is currently responsible for legal supervision of the RBB – has checked the legal admissibility and has come to the conclusion that this procedure is also permissible under certain conditions.
However, the haste with which attempts are being made to smooth things over within the station is causing some members of the broadcasting council a stomach ache. “That can only work if a candidate has already been picked out. It has nothing to do with a real search, ”is criticized.
The media policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group in Brandenburg, Ingo Senftleben, is optimistic. “We will be able to make a good choice next week,” said on Friday on RBB Inforadio. Now it’s about finding a person who enjoys the support of the broadcaster and trust outside of the RBB. A team solution for the transitional period is also conceivable, said Senftleben.
Brandenburg’s State Secretary for Media Benjamin Grimm, SPD, meanwhile announced that supervision of the RBB would be strengthened in the new State Broadcasting Treaty. “Apart from the question of whether the allegations against Patricia Schlesinger should be confirmed in the end, we will increase transparency and supervision of the RBB beyond what is already planned,” Grimm told the Evangelical Press Service (epd).
The procedure for amending the state treaty, which was suspended in 2021, is now being discussed again, said Grimm. A written hearing has been going on since June. In view of the events of the past few weeks, he believes it is necessary to make further adjustments, he told epd.
