Better equipment for the journalists, some of whom are out and about with their own technology, thinking more about Brandenburg – these are the wishes and expectations of Dagmar Bednarek from the RBB’s independent representation for the program of the two-country broadcaster in the post-Schlesinger era.
“The hiring of ‘Zibb’ was a bad sign.” It took RBB a long time to close the ORB gap and it shouldn’t be allowed to get bigger again, even given the austerity rounds. Money has flowed in the wrong direction at the RBB for far too long, namely in the superstructure or in the planning of the digital media company, which had been warned of from the start.
Improvements are also needed in dealing with the 1,500 freelancers of the RBB, who have been making a large part of the program content possible for years, Bednarek continued. “But the fees have not been increased for years.” That also explains the bad mood and the anger in the house, especially these days, in view of the revelations and pictures from the offices on the director’s floor, which were renovated for 1.4 million euros .
The head of the staff council also argues in the direction of More Brandenburg – the region as the core task of the state broadcasting company RBB. In addition to the expansion of regional reporters, Sabine Jauer would also like more attention for RBB radio, so that the discussion about content boxes would always be a bit overshadowed by RBB television. “But we have a lot more listeners on the radio than we get on television.”
It is important to sharpen the profile of the program and not to save at the wrong end. Jauer fears that if the hiring of his own music editors continues, editors are dismantled, at some point the program will only come from the music computer.
A window has been opened in the TV program with the persistent and transparent reporting of the “Abendschau” since Monday, since Patricia Schlesinger’s resignation. “Many say it’s like 30 years ago.” “Many say it’s like 30 years ago.”
In this context, Jauer also emphasizes the work of Jörg Wagner, who has fearlessly taken on the topic of Schlesinger and the RBB crisis with his media magazine on RadioEins in the past few weeks, Saturday after Saturday.
First and foremost, the RBB is now less about the program and more about the structure, according to a statement by the staff representatives that was posted on the intranet on Wednesday. “The resignation of Patricia Schlesinger as director of the RBB has plunged the station into an unprecedented crisis.”
The stakes are nothing less than the credibility of “our state broadcaster, the integrity of the journalists working here and, last but not least, the future of public broadcasting”.
The demanded complete clarification and transparency internally and externally should not remain mere empty phrases. There must be a radical new beginning. “However, many employees have serious doubts as to whether the new start can be successful with the existing management. The trust of the employees is no longer there.”
What is required is: the establishment of an investigation commission, the establishment of an investigative research team with access to all documents (this happened on Wednesday), protection of whistleblowers, participation of employees in the selection committee for the election of a new director and the reorganization of broadcasting – and board of directors. “Each individual member of management is asked to disclose any possible misconduct in the current situation.”
