By Gunnar Schupelius
Gunnar Schupelius believes that there is still a lack of political will in the Red City Hall and in Potsdam for a real new start at RBB.
Six months ago, the RBB boardroom was exposed. A rope team around director Schlesinger had used the fee money. Astronomical salaries, bonuses and retirement benefits were paid. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating corruption.
Something should change fundamentally, everyone agreed that a system of control was needed. But nothing happened. On the contrary: Even more money flew out of the window: Intendant Vernau, the cleaner from WDR, has a gross salary of 322,000 euros per year (calculated with a second home and a first-class BahnCard).
RBB boss Katrin Vernau (49) Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa
And a whole crowd of lawyers was hired to deal with the nepotism. They collected 1.4 million euros to find out what Schlesinger could have said, namely where the money went that she so generously distributed.
The whole story would have been almost forgotten if the internet magazine “Business-Insider” hadn’t brought new scandals to light. For example, this one: program director Jan Schulte-Kellinghaus is leaving the station, but will still receive 18,000 euros gross per month for two years and then a pension of 9,000 euros gross per month until the end of his life.
An RBB investigative committee in the Brandenburg state parliament, which was formed at the request of the AfD, is also fighting against forgetting. No other party had campaigned for it – why not?
On February 17, the committee of inquiry questioned the Brandenburg State Chancellery of Prime Minister Woidke (SPD), which is responsible for the legal supervision of the RBB. Media Secretary Benjamin Grimm appeared, claiming that he knew nothing about the nepotism and only found out about it from the press.
Since then we have known that the RBB leadership was not subject to any control at all. The two bodies responsible for this, the Broadcasting Council and the Board of Directors, had neglected their duty of supervision, as did the Woidke government apparently.
So what would have to happen? Very simple: You have to change the state contract with the RBB in such a way that effective control bodies are created. The governments of Berlin and Brandenburg would have to see to that.
Prime Minister Woidke and Berlin’s Governing Mayor Giffey (SPD) have so far not lifted a finger. Don’t you want control? Do you want everything to stay the same? They are waiting for the investigation, they say. But they don’t have to. You can still decide today that the RBB management is controlled, you can decide that wages and salaries are reduced to a normal level, that no one enriches themselves from the fees.
But they don’t. SPD and RBB stick together, also against the population, who have to pay the broadcasting fee.
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