A heated debate has erupted over the financing of the ORF, with Managing Director Roland Weißmann urging for a larger budget. Before more money flows, however, there must be a reform that reduces political influence, demands NEOS boss Beate Meinl-Reisinger. In an interview with krone.at she clearly criticizes the supervisory board, a ‘reform-reluctant’ coalition and the so-called provincial governors TV.
crown.at: The ORF sees itself in a financing crisis from 2024, in December you called for reforms for the “Standard” in a guest article, only then should there be money. The Supervisory Board should be disbanded, instead a Citizens’ Council should be set up – is that realistic?
Beate Meinl-Reisinger: I entered politics to make a real difference. The funding crisis is one thing, but the crisis of confidence is a much bigger problem. And this crisis of confidence eventually becomes a raison d’être crisis, because for years the ORF and the government have not answered the question of what the usefulness of public broadcasting should actually be in the digital age.
What’s the point?
If we say that we need the public broadcaster to have reliable information, including as a bulwark against fake news, we must first of all free the ORF from political influence. Less than a quarter of Austrians believe that ORF reporting is free from political influence. That is the main reason why people have no faith. That is poison in a democracy.
In the Lower Austrian ORF state studio, the reports were apparently very ÖVP-friendly. Were other parties disadvantaged?
When state governor TV is made in the state studios, which is obviously very beneficial to the ruling party, it affects coverage. Less is therefore reported on all other parties. All in all, I experience in Lower Austria that there is no clear debate culture, no clear understanding of democracy. Our party leader Indra Collini asked the last proportional government to put the labor agreement on the table. As a result, she simply received the party program of the ÖVP Lower Austria from the environment of Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (laughs). That says a lot about a non-existent understanding of democracy and especially about the completely detached attitude: “We are the country! We have the power, what the others do doesn’t matter at all.”
Speaking of state studios: SPÖ Salzburg now wants to end the governor’s participation in the appointment of the ORF state director. Does the NEOS agree to the request?
(laughs) Legally there is no such influence. There is only a mere right to be heard. According to the current constitution, this right to be heard should de facto be more. This right to be heard should be deleted without replacement. I agree with the SPÖ that this is not okay. I wonder if they also hear that in Vienna, Burgenland and Carinthia.
Will the NEOS also strive for it to be abolished in all state parliaments where they are represented?
First of all, we are in the provincial government in Vienna and Salzburg and do not interfere with the ORF – we have no side letters. We are the only party in a government where there is no such thing. The Greens have side agreements, the Reds, the Blacks, the FPÖ have proven to have had side letters, always making these agreements up.
The newly renovated parliament opened recently, the NEOS immediately criticized the ORF – in the future he only wants to broadcast sessions on ORF3 instead of ORF 2. Sobotka should work to ensure that the previous procedure is maintained. Does your party now also want to influence the reporting?
It is more the other way around: I am afraid that ORF 3 will become a Sobotka station if the President of the National Council and Mr Weißmann agree on where the parliamentary sessions will be broadcast. I think that ORF2, as a public broadcaster with an educational mandate, should be obliged to broadcast parliamentary sessions. I appreciate ORF 3, but if you look at the ratings, it seems to me that it is being cleaned up there.
The funding has to come from somewhere. Should there be a household contribution, as NEOS media spokeswoman Henrike Brandstötter recently demanded? Then everyone has to pay, even if they do not use ORF offers.
That is why I am currently very critical of a household levy – especially in times of rising prices. There are three models at the table: household levy, budget financing and a reimbursement for all internet devices. They all have spots. In principle, we are ready to talk, but we will only agree to a funding reform if there is also a governance reform that guarantees that political influence is reduced. The ORF needs a regular supervisory board with members who are experts. Otherwise we will not agree to any financing. Certainly not if more money is needed. I will not make Austrians pay more for something they trust less and less.
But are the NEOS basically for a household levy?
Personally, I find budget financing difficult because the ORF can always be the pawn of politics. Then that is part of the annual budget negotiations. Whether that makes you so much more independent, I dare to doubt.
The Greens have therefore proposed an ORF budget with automatic inflation adjustment.
I think a general indexing is a mistake. This means that the efficiency potential never needs to be increased. I don’t blame the ORF, but the governments – past and present. For decades they have watched as more and more trust in the ORF is lost and ruined because they are unwilling to reform. You get the impression that the ruling parties are only interested in exerting as much influence as possible themselves. The SPÖ was unwilling to reform because it was convenient for them to have influence and aims to regain as much influence as possible in the supervisory board. The ÖVP does not want to reform, even has an absolute majority in the board of directors, the Greens have reached an agreement with the ÖVP in the past and also with the FPÖ. That’s how you ruin the ORF. So the bare question of existence will arise. I am very afraid that there will be a referendum, not to make an ORF independent, as Hugo Portisch wanted, but to abolish the ORF, and that will find increasing support if the loss of confidence continues.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
