Spotlight on the Foundation Board

NEOS launches offensive against ORF Foundation Board

The controversial ORF Foundation Board is now also facing criticism from NEOS.(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

The debate over reforming the ORF is gaining momentum: On Thursday morning, NEOS presented a comprehensive five-point initiative for public broadcasting. At the center of the criticism is the controversial Foundation Board, which party leader Yannick Shetty has already described as a “committee of horror.” 

Under the title “Reform ORF, Don’t Demolish It,” the Pink Party aims to spark a broad debate on the structure, independence, and financing of ORF—including a public support campaign with a petition on orf-reform.at.

The NEOS’s five-point initiative:

• End political influence

• Safeguard independent journalism

• Save on the system, not on programming

• A new corporate culture

• A modern public service mandate

“Sexual abuse of power, pension perks, party politics” 
NEOS is taking the lead on this issue and increasing the pressure on its coalition partners, the ÖVP and SPÖ. Shetty became emotional at the press conference as he listed the latest scandals at Küniglberg. “Sexual abuse of power, pension perks, party politics—and all of this at the expense of its own employees. It disgusts us, it’s appalling, this has to stop! We demand a professional, independent ORF that works in the interest of the Austrian people. Just as the law stipulates.”

The ORF does not have a journalistic problem; it has a political problem.

NEOS-Klubobmann Yannick Shetty

Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER

“The ORF is in the worst crisis in its history”
According to him, this “farce” is being financed by license fee payers. “The ORF is in the worst crisis in its history. Independent journalists, in particular, are having to pay the price for what others have botched.” According to Shetty, the ORF does not have a journalistic problem, but a political one. 

“Abolish the Foundation Board and replace itwith a professional supervisory board”
And then the Pink Party’s parliamentary group leader took aim at the 35-member ORF Foundation Board. “The Foundation Board stands for everything that is going wrong at Küniglberg. It should be an independent and autonomous supervisory body that works in the interests of Austrians. But that doesn’t work in reality. That is why the Foundation Board must be abolished and replaced by a professional supervisory board.” There is an urgent need for a “corporate policy of the best minds.”

NEOS Campaign on ORF Reform

• The initiative, which has now been launched and can be signed at
  www.orf-reform.at, is, according to NEOS, “deliberately non-partisan.”
• For example, the website is designed in ORF red rather than NEOS pink.
• In addition to abolishing the ORF Foundation Board, the demands also include safeguarding the independence of journalistic work and a “modern public mandate that once again creates added value.”

Replacing staff is not enough for NEOS
According to Shetty, the party headquarters, their secretaries-general, ministries, or state governors are not the owners of the ORF, but rather the license fee payers. Politics must therefore be removed from the ORF. “However, a mere change in leadership at the top of the ORF is not enough. Trust in the ORF has been shattered, especially in its ‘committee of horror,’ the ORF Foundation Board. Anyone who seriously believes it is enough to replace staff and then sit back and do nothing will not pull the ORF out of the crisis, but will be complicit if the ORF turns the page on its final chapter,” Shetty emphasized.

Criticism of the ÖVP
With regard to the upcoming election of an ORF Director General, the NEOS criticize the ÖVP for favoring a specific candidate (referring to APA CEO Clemens Pig, note) even while the application process is still ongoing. This constitutes “clear intimidation of all those who have not yet applied.”

The fact that the ÖVP is favoring a specific candidate even while the application process is still ongoing is a clear act of intimidation toward other applicants.

NEOS-Mediensprecherin Henrike Brandstötter

Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER

NEOS to hold a hearing on June 2
NEOS will not issue any declarations of support for individual candidates at any time; the foundation board members alone will make their choice. The public hearing to which NEOS has invited attendees to the Funkhaus on June 2 is intended to ensure transparency. Furthermore, they welcome the fact that such a hearing is also to take place at ORF.

NEOS warns of “Orbanization” if FPÖ joins government
When asked whether NEOS generally favors candidates from outside the ORF or from within the organization, the party declined to commit to a specific position. Both options have advantages, according to NEOS media spokesperson Henrike Brandstötter. What is certain, she said, is that the ORF reform outlined in the government program must be implemented urgently. “If we don’t act now, the ORF will lose any reason for its existence,” NEOS stated. Once again, the Pink Party warned that a potential future FPÖ government participation would lead to an “Orbanization” of public broadcasting.