Public broadcasting under pressure: the Schlesinger scandal has broadcasters shaking

Created: 08/10/2022 09:09

By: Georg Anastasiadis

Ex-ARD boss Patricia Schlesinger.

© IMAGO/Mike Schmidt / The Hague

The scandal surrounding the former ARD boss Schlesinger has done a great deal to damage the image of the broadcasters.

A debate about improvements is urgently needed, comments Georg Anastasiadis.

Berlin's luxury director Patricia Schlesinger is gone, the ARD boss did not show any insight or even guilt until the end.

The prosecutors now have to clarify the case because all internal control bodies at Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg have failed.

Not even the conversion of the director's floor for an alleged 600,000 euros aroused interest there, let alone the well-endowed consultancy contracts for her husband and the horrendous expense reports from the boss.

You can find all the news about the scandal in our news ticker about Patricia Schlesinger.

Scandal in the public sector: "Insufficient supervision and arrogance"

The scandal shook the system of public service broadcasting in Germany because it mercilessly revealed its weaknesses: the often underdeveloped cost awareness, the inadequate supervision and the arrogance of an institution that is financed by compulsory fees and believes it has no accountability to anyone.

This arrogance goes well with the educational journalism cultivated in some broadcasting companies, which prefers to apply strict standards to others and whose heart beats to the left when in doubt.

All of this is not really new, for a long time the dissatisfaction of many citizens has been brewing among the broadcasters, their excessive offers, the lavish need for money and their excessive closeness to the state.

If we don't want to forget that the broadcasters, if they understand their task correctly, are guarantors of high-quality journalism and reliable information, the Schlesinger case must trigger a debate on how public broadcasting can be improved.