Press club Concordia: – “Journalism needs professional distance”

The FPÖ envisions the ORF in its ideal form as a kind of “Russia today,” Kraus said. That is a qualitative difference with other parties. The party wants to bring the medium under its control or destroy it. “We see that the FPÖ has the media as a central issue in the election campaign.” This is seen as an opportunity to influence public opinion.

“Leading medium in this country”
The fact that the ORF is hit harder than other media is due to the fact that it is a leading medium in Austria. Broadcasters are public services and important for forming opinions in this country, says Daniela Kraus of the Concordia press club.

Both journalistic and political work are said to require ‘professional distance’. In a small country this can be difficult “because everyone knows everyone”, but being too close in Austria is the exception and not the rule. Kraus is convinced that there are many good journalists in Austria.

Transparency needed, but…
The general secretary of the press club sees consequences after the incident as “absolutely” necessary. The ORF must be better protected against political influence. The implementation of a corresponding reform, as required by the Constitutional Court (VfGH), should ideally take place during this legislature, but no later than mid-2025. Kraus has not yet heard any signals from the ÖVP about this, but they would be advised to do so as well. doing.

When asked about the medium’s transparency report, for example about the highest salaries, the PhD historian said that transparency was necessary, but more so in other areas, such as when awarding contracts. The transparency of individual people and their salaries, on the other hand, is ‘show politics’ and ‘populism’.

For example, as reported, Strache’s fitness trainer Philipp Jelinek got his own TV program on ORF and thanked the former vice chancellor for it.