From the BZ editorial team
The Schlesinger scandal at RBB – it is getting wider and wider. Not only that the employees are angry! Two more top managers from Schlesinger’s circle had to leave on Tuesday.
► The Head of the Intendance department, Verena Formen-Mohr, released with immediate effect. This was confirmed by a spokesman for the public broadcaster on Tuesday of the German Press Agency. The “Spiegel” had previously reported. The broadcaster did not provide any further information on the reasons for the exemption.
Verena Formen-Mohr at the ARD capital meeting Photo: picture alliance / AAPimages/
► The one that came under criticism Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Messe Berlin, Wolf-Dieter Wolf, resigns his office. A spokesman for the Senate Department for Economics told the German Press Agency on Tuesday: “Today Mr. Wolf-Dieter Wolf informed the Senator for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, Stephan Schwarz, that he is resigning from the supervisory board at Messe Berlin and thus also from chairing the to resign from the Supervisory Board with immediate effect in order to avoid possible damage to Messe Berlin GmbH and also not to burden the ongoing investigations.”
Messe Supervisory Board Chairman Wolf-Dieter Wolf is letting his offices rest for the time being Photo: picture alliance/dpa
Employees are angry
But that’s not enough for some RBB employees! At a digital staff meeting of the RBB on Tuesday, there were also clear demands for the resignation of the entire management! This is what participants reported. Around 1500 employees came.
According to the information, topics included the costs of construction work in the house and the flexible salary components for managers, known as bonus payments.
The mood was tense, they said. There is a mixture of anger, desperation and bewilderment.
Politics calls for reforms
Meanwhile, the calls for reforms in public service broadcasting continue. The left in Berlin and Brandenburg called for a broadcaster reform commission to deal with structures, transparency, the disclosure of consultancy contracts and other issues. The employees must also be involved, emphasized the media policy spokesman for the left-wing factions in the Berlin House of Representatives and in the Brandenburg state parliament, Alexander King and Thomas Domres, on Tuesday in Potsdam.
Domres said there shouldn’t be any bans on thinking about the forthcoming reforms. The high salaries of the top broadcasters would also have to be put to the test. For this purpose, the ARD should set up an independent commission that could submit proposals for directors’ and directors’ salaries. Bonus systems with surcharges on the salaries of executives are fundamentally unacceptable.
In clarifying the allegations that prompted Schlesinger’s resignation, Wolf must move more into focus. The complex of problems also includes the double function of real estate entrepreneur at RBB and as chairman of the supervisory board of the Berlin trade fair. Such amalgamations must be ruled out in the future. If Wolf does not resign from his RBB office, the Broadcasting Council should recall him.
The service trade union ver.di called public service broadcasting in the capital region indispensable despite the current crisis. Opponents who are now using the Schlesinger case to attack public broadcasting will be given a clear rejection.
The Schlesinger case
Journalist Patricia Schlesinger, who has headed RBB since 2016, resigned from her position as director on Sunday evening. She had previously resigned from the ARD presidency, which she had held since the beginning of the year.
The previously unsolved allegations range from questionable consulting contracts to an RBB construction project that has now been put on hold, a large salary increase for Schlesinger to a good 300,000 euros and an additional bonus system.
It’s also about food with “multipliers” at RBB’s expense in your private apartment and a luxurious company car with massage seats, for which there is said to have been a very high discount.
Schlesinger’s husband received orders from the state-owned Messe Berlin, where Wolf is also the chief inspector. It was also announced that the executive floor should have been equipped to a high standard for 650,000 euros.
In the meantime, the public prosecutor’s office in Berlin is conducting preliminary proceedings against Schlesinger, her husband and Wolf on suspicion of infidelity and accepting advantages.