ORF Lower Austria: Ziegler gives current reports to Thurnher

Until the results of an evaluation commission set up by ORF boss Roland Weißmann today, Monday, are available, ORF radio director Ingrid Thurnher will take over this area of ​​activity from him, it said in a broadcast.

“This step ensures that the editors of ORF Lower Austria, under the direction of editor-in-chief Benedikt Fuchs, can carry out their journalistic work unencumbered,” says Weißmann. However, Ziegler is not completely relinquishing his position as state director. The current reporting is in any case the main responsibility of the editor-in-chief.

The evaluation commission will start its work this week, it said in a broadcast. With this, Weißmann does not meet the demands of the ORF editorial board for a suspension of Ziegler.

The commission is headed by Gerhard Draxler, former ORF information director and Styrian state director. Also on board are Martin Schauer, university professor emeritus for civil law, Edgar Weinzettl, director of the ORF regional studio in Vienna, Pia Scheck-Kollmann, ORF compliance officer and the ORF personal lawyer Elma Osmanovic. The ORF assumed in the broadcast that the dossier with allegations circulating in various media would also be made available to the Commission. It was also emphasized that the editorial responsibility for reporting by the state studio no longer lies with state director Ziegler.

The editorial board had demanded an immediate suspension

The ORF editorial board demanded the immediate suspension of Robert Ziegler from ORF boss Roland Weißmann on Monday morning. A commission with external support should clarify the allegations against Ziegler and in the meantime an “impeccable person” should take over the management of the state studio, it said.

According to internal chats and emails from the ORF state studio in Lower Austria, which became public on Friday evening, Ziegler is said to have repeatedly campaigned massively for the TV presence of state governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP) and operated a kind of message control in favor of the People’s Party . He is also said to have had companies close to the state put in a positive light. In response to the allegations, Ziegler spoke of “vague and incomprehensible allegations”.

With the demand for Ziegler’s suspension, the ORF editorial board did not want to prejudice him, but rather prevent further damage from the ORF and the credibility of the reporting of the state studios. “Should it turn out to be true that editors have been instructed to structure articles in such a way that certain politicians appear, even if there is no journalistic need to do so, this is a clear violation of the statutory duty of independence,” he said ORF editorial board. The ORF Lower Austria spokesman spoke out in favor of an investigation at the weekend, but resisted a “general prejudice against the entire editorial staff of ORF Lower Austria”.

Lothar Lockl, chairman of the ORF board of trustees, called for a “comprehensive examination” of the allegations in an interview with the APA. Because the independence of reporting is a cornerstone of the ORF. He considers the appointment of the commission to be correct. According to Lockl, however, this had to come to a conclusion quickly. Heinz Lederer, head of the SPÖ “Freundeskreis” in the ORF board of trustees, also supports the investigative commission set up at APA’s request. He called for maximum transparency in the processing, a rapid analysis and submission of the report in February.

At Weißmann’s suggestion, Ziegler was appointed state director by the 35 ORF foundation councils. According to ORF law, the board of trustees can also dismiss Ziegler at Weissmann’s suggestion. Before doing so, however, a statement from the country concerned would have to be obtained.

Helga Krismer, spokeswoman for the Lower Austrian Greens, wrote an “open letter” to Weißmann. The allegations against Ziegler are serious. “Since the state director himself does not draw any conclusions from this, we expect you, Mr. Director General, to ‘release’ Mr. Robert Ziegler from his position in the interests of the ORF,” said Krismer. Especially in the next few weeks, before a state election, “from our point of view it is important to ensure the independence of the reporting of the ORF Lower Austria”.

Udo Landbauer, state party and club chairman of the FPÖ Lower Austria, spoke at a press conference of the “biggest party-political media scandal in this country” and a “democracy-political super meltdown”. “Now a realignment is needed immediately, which ensures balance, objectivity and fairness in reporting,” demanded the Freedom Party.