Image: HERBERT NEUBAUER (APA)
“This is a transgression on the part of the media minister. That is not her job,” said broadcasting lawyer Hans Peter Lehofer on Monday in the Ö1-Mittagsjournal. The ORF management and the board of trustees are responsible for cost-cutting measures.
“The ORF is not a savings association. It has a public program mandate,” said the chairman of the ORF foundation board, Lothar Lockl, to Ö1. Thrift is always an issue on the ORF. “We hardly received inflation compensation. We have one of the lowest wage agreements in Austria – unfortunately for the employees. But that was also a clear signal,” says Lockl, who sees “decisive weeks” for the ORF.
Raab is meeting this week with ORF boss Roland Weißmann for a one-on-one talk about the ORF’s financial situation. Weißmann had warned in November that from 2024 ORF would face “one of the biggest financing crises in its history” and that the current financing model could no longer guarantee that the public service mandate would be fulfilled. At the same time, a decision by the Constitutional Court (VfGH) must be implemented by 2024, according to which the streaming use of ORF offers must also be subject to a fee in the future. For Raab, it is crucial that in the future less will have to be paid for the ORF than now.
Chancellor spokesman Daniel Kosak (ÖVP) was also criticized with an entry on the short message service Twitter. At the weekend he considered it “interesting” that ORF.at reported extensively on the controversial appointment of an ex-spokesman by Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) during his time as Foreign Minister or Chancellor as Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). , but the discussion about ORF funding “wasn’t even worth mentioning”. The linking of the two topics or the implicit complaint about the weighting of topics is perceived by many as inappropriate.
more from culture
These are Europe’s cultural capitals
“Dancing Stars” couples fix: “I don’t want to make a complete fool of myself”
No one has done it before her: Beyoncé triumphs at the Grammys
“You have to try to let go of everything, to empty your own hard drive”
: Nachrichten
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
