The affair surrounding the regional director of ORF Lower Austria, Robert Ziegler, is making waves. An evaluation of internal chats and e-mails has shown that Ziegler, who had previously been editor-in-chief at ORF Lower Austria, is said to have repeatedly advocated the TV presence of Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (VP) and VP-friendly reporting .
“Clear steps necessary”
He is said to have requested a statement from Mikl-Leitner for a ZiB cultural contribution, although the contribution was already finished (but not yet sent). For reporting on the Leopolditag 2020, Ziegler is said to have given meticulous instructions on how to evaluate a video by Mikl-Leitner.
Image: Volker Weihbold
Fritz Hausjell, President of “Reporters Without Borders”, spoke on Sunday – also in connection with the editors-in-chief Matthias Schrom (ORF) and Rainer Nowak (“Die Presse”), who resigned in the chat affair – of a shaking of the “foundations of fourth power'”. “In a liberal democracy, the criticism and control function must not be undermined either by message control or by journalism made compliant.” Politicians and ORF must take clear steps to strengthen journalistic independence.
The editorial spokesman for the state studio meanwhile spoke out in favor of an investigation into the allegations. At the same time, however, they defended themselves against “a blanket prejudice against the entire editorial staff of ORF Lower Austria”. The chairman of the ORF editorial board Dieter Bornemann did not want to make a statement to OÖN yesterday and referred to a statement planned for today.
According to ORF, there are no internal complaints against Ziegler. The chats and e-mails are not known to the management, but the anonymous allegations will be investigated. Ziegler himself spoke of “vague and incomprehensible allegations”. He had headed the editorial office of the Lower Austria state studio for six years “to the best of my knowledge and belief”.
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Source: Nachrichten
