AND
Rainer Ludwig, media policy spokesman for the Free Voters faction in the Bavarian state parliament
Public broadcasting plays an important role in a functioning society and our democracy. Especially at a time when a high level of fake news reaches us via social media, reporting that is as independent as possible from political and economic influences is important. That’s why we Free Voters in the Bavarian State Parliament demand that ARD and ZDF continue to be adequately funded in the future.
But 3sat, Arte, the youth channel funk, Kika and Phoenix, the nationwide Deutschlandradio and the foreign broadcaster Deutsche Welle are also part of the public broadcasting spectrum – synergy effects could certainly be achieved here. We therefore welcome the decision by the state leaders in Leipzig last week to reform public broadcasting, create more efficient structures and save costs – for example in administration and technology.
Instead of offering many different formats and channels as before, funds could flow into particularly high-quality content such as education and culture. However, entertainment programs currently take up a large part of public broadcasting and are therefore in competition with private broadcasters who make their entire offerings solely from advertising revenue.
For comparison: ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio collected fees worth more than 9 billion euros last year – not including advertising revenue. A leaner public service offer would therefore strengthen the differentiation from private broadcasters – at best with the result of a lower broadcasting fee.
In addition, it would be good for the acceptance of public broadcasters if the broadcasters aligned their programs more closely with the wishes of those paying contributions – true to the motto ‘The customer is king’.
NO
Martina Fehlner, media policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament
Citizens’ media behavior has changed completely. Many articles are accessed online. The public broadcasters have to adapt to this even better. The reform process must therefore continue. ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandfunk have already initiated significant savings and collaborations in recent years. Nevertheless, the broadcasters must make additional efforts, keyword synergies and more cooperation between the broadcasters.
No question, the overall costs are high. And above all it is about the acceptance of a premium increase. She is anything but popular among the population. We have to keep the public service offering affordable. Public broadcasting is firmly anchored in our constitution. Reliable and serious quality journalism is important and indispensable for our democracy. Now that the Prime Minister has agreed on the most important reforms, the broadcasters are now required to actively implement them. Above all, a significant reduction in radio programs and special interest television offerings is planned.
But it cannot be a matter of simply cutting channels; the main thing is to clarify questions of content: Which offers are essential and which are dispensable? Do the same posts always have to run on several channels at the same time? How many millions are sports broadcasting rights worth to us? Do we really need so many quiz shows? Can I offer the same thing for less money through even better cooperation between broadcasters? And last but not least: Director salaries are also under scrutiny. Ultimately, these are decisions that the broadcasters have to make themselves. This requires freedom of the media. The task of politics is to provide a financial framework that continues to ensure high quality in public broadcasting.
