By Hans-Jörg Vehlewald
She has been the new host on the ARD scandal channel RBB since September 1st: Ulrike Demmer.
The former spokeswoman for the federal government under Angela Merkel speaks in the BZ interview about her predecessor Patricia Schlesinger, who was accused of ostentation and ostentation (including massage chairs and imported parquet in the office) and the new strict controls on politics. She criticizes the fact that they overshoot the mark.
BZ: Where is the massage chair?
Ulrike Demmer: “To be honest: I have no idea, maybe somewhere in the archives. My predecessor’s director’s office is now a meeting room. I work from my office in Potsdam – it’s much more modest and functional there.”
Nevertheless, the scandals surrounding Ms. Schlesinger are catching up with them: by means of a state treaty, the state governments in Berlin and Brandenburg want to keep her under tight rein, including with additional state watchdogs in the Broadcasting Council.
Ulrike Demmer is the new RBB director Photo: dpa/picture alliance
“As if politicians were installing watchdogs”
Demmer: “Two people are planned to be appointed by the state governments to lead the RBB in order to review the program. These people are appointed directly by the Broadcasting Council – this can also be interpreted as if politics were installing watchdogs who are allowed to intervene in the program at any time as proportional arbitrators – on the same level as the editor-in-chief. These state representatives are a political symbol, but a journalistic aberration.”
But the Broadcasting Council has the task of monitoring the program…
Demmer: “Control and transparency are important. But we won’t let our independence to design our daily program be taken away from us. The Basic Law prohibits any intervention here.”
Does it surprise you that more supervision is needed after the scandals?
Demmer: “No, I understand very well the anger towards the previous management. But the RBB has long since drawn conclusions: I work for less money and drive a company car without any frills. But here the baby is being thrown out with the bathwater: the proposed state treaty hits the wrong people: the contributors whose money flows into more expensive structures instead of into the program.”
Politicians have even more plans: According to the state treaty, regional broadcasting windows are to be extended to a guaranteed 60 minutes – a stipulation that does not exist in any other state treaty.
Demmer: “We want to regionalize more. Our audience doesn’t just want to hear the ‘capital station’, but the home station, which goes far beyond Berlin and Potsdam. BUT: This requirement ties up an additional three million euros annually in the linear program alone, leaving even less money for digital offerings. This particularly affects young listeners and viewers.”
There is also a dispute about an additional regional office in Brandenburg an der Havel – a good 40 kilometers from Potsdam. What speaks against it?
Demmer: “I would love to have an RBB office in every city. But who should pay for that? We would rather put the money into more reporters on site and more reporting instead of into office rent and doorbells.”
Also planned: an East German quota. Not a good idea?
Demmer: “Good journalism depends on the reporter knowing what he is talking about and what makes the people he reports about tick. But that doesn’t depend on where you were born, but on where you live. We want people with a wide range of life experiences. We don’t discriminate against anyone, including West Germans.”
So you wouldn’t sign the treaty?
Demmer: “Our signature is not required at all, that is a matter for politics. The problem: Nobody seems to be interested in what objections we have from a journalistic perspective. I have the impression that the contract should be pushed through quickly. The station will only be listened to once the decision has been made in the cabinet. We want to be heard before our journalistic independence is curtailed by the state.”