Spotlight on the Foundation Board

NEOS launches offensive against ORF Foundation Board

The controversial ORF board is now also facing criticism from the 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” 
The NEOS are taking the lead on this and increasing the pressure on their 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 their own employees. It disgusts us, it’s appalling, this has to stop!”

The ORF doesn’t have a journalistic problem; it has a political problem.

NEOS-Klubobmann Yannick Shetty

Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER

According to him, this “farce” is being financed by license fee payers. “Independent journalists, in particular, are the ones who have to pay the price for what others have messed up.” 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 NEOS party leader took aim at the 35-member ORF Foundation Board. “The Foundation Board stands for everything that’s 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’s why the Foundation Board should be abolished and replaced by a professional supervisory board.”

The controversial ORF body now also faces criticism from the NEOS.(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

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—the license fee payers are. Politics must therefore be kept out of 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.

NEOS media spokesperson Henrike Brandstötter spoke of a system that is no longer viable in its current form: “We have long since reached the point where things cannot continue this way with the ORF. The ORF must become an independent and efficient public media organization that delivers real added value for all Austrians and acts as a fair competitor in the domestic media market.”

The initiative comprises a total of five key demands, which can be supported online starting Thursday.