It is the biggest scandal that German public broadcasting has ever known. Since June, revelations have multiplied around suspicions of abuse of privileges within the Berlin public television channel RBB. At the heart of this affair is Patricia Schlesinger, a 61-year-old journalist, who became “intendante” (director) of this channel in 2016, then president of the national channel ARD since January 2022. Dismissed from her post on August 15, she is denied payment of severance pay on Monday, August 22.
With taxpayers’ money
The list of accusations made against him is long. Patricia Schlesinger is, among other things, suspected of having organized private dinners at her home, at taxpayers’ expense, of having used a luxury company car with a massage chair, but also and above all of having assumed a salary increase of 16% when she already received an annual salary of €300,000. Not to mention a secret bonus system awarded to 27 RBB leaders. “These bonuses and salary increases are not going at all in such a period”, commented Jan Schulte-Kellinghaus, director of programs at the RBB.
This scandal had a powerful echo in Germany, where public broadcasting occupies a special place. In the wake of the Second World War, the Allies favored a decentralized system, financed by the taxpayer and therefore little linked to politics. It now has 73 radio channels and 21 television channels, including 2 national, ARD and ZDF. Financed by a fee of €220 per year (compared to €138 in France), it has an annual budget of €8.42 billion.
Fundamental reform
The scandal so far concerns only the RBB. However, it reveals broader dysfunctions, such as the weakness of the control of the administrators of public channels. Criticisms rain from all sides. The most virulent come from political figures and right-wing media, such as the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, who speaks of a “systemic failure” or the conservative newspaper The world, for who “this scandal reveals the potential savings possible for the most expensive public broadcasting in the world”.
This affair should reinforce the position of the 16 Bundesländer which, in June, approved the bases of a fundamental reform of the German audiovisual sector. Considered too costly and inflexible, it will be called upon to refocus on its basic missions – information –, to abandon entertainment and to reduce the number of its programmes. The fate of the national channels ARD and ZDF, judged to be too similar in their content, remains unsettled between the supporters of a clearer differentiation and those in favor of a merger.
Unlike France or the United Kingdom, however, the debate still focuses little on the merits of the fee. Only the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party or a few Christian Democrat personalities are demanding its removal. Trust in the public media could take a hit, however, according to CDU leader Friedrich Merz. “The Schlesinger case has the potential to deprive public service broadcasting in Germany of its legitimacy and public acceptance,” he regrets.