Based on a number of media experiences, 30 of 35 ORF board members accused him in a letter of violating his authorized duties as a board member with company-damaging and disparaging statements. You ask your colleague to chorus from making such additional statements publicly.
A number of examples are given within the letter. Westenthaler described the ORF as a “propaganda machine”. The general public media firm operates “underneath the guise of independence” and engages in “occasion political agitation.” As well as, ORF stars are usually not even “stars” internationally. The signatories of the letter counsel that Westenthaler ought to inform himself in regards to the authorized foundation and the implications of breaches of obligation.
Westenthaler stands by his statements
Westenthaler himself doesn’t need to be silenced in response to the letter and stands by each assertion he makes. He desires to proceed to specific his opinion and touch upon “wrongful developments” at ORF.
Heinz Lederer, SPÖ “associates group chief” on the ORF board of trustees, was one of many few who didn’t signal the letter. He defined this to the APA by saying that he was on the lookout for a special sort of debate. He clearly distances himself from the FPÖ’s line, which quantities to the destruction of the ORF. He additionally considers Westenthaler’s statements to be problematic. However a letter with a “hidden risk of authorized motion” shouldn’t be the proper manner. The best ORF committee was already weakened by a discovering by the Constitutional Court docket (VfGH) that the federal government had an excessive amount of affect within the appointment. In the event you now current your self to the skin world as a “dispute-taker”, that may be much more damaging to the ORF. “If we won’t put only one critic in his place with inner discussions, how weak is that this committee?” mentioned Lederer, who described himself as a “man of discourse”.
“There are forces that need to destroy the ORF”
In the meantime, the ORF editorial committee additionally got here out on Thursday to warn in opposition to the destruction of the ORF. Within the spirit of the Constitutional Court docket’s findings, a brand new ORF legislation should guarantee political independence, demanded the elected editorial spokespersons from all ORF areas. The Constitutional Court docket has given the federal government till March 2025 to restore the ORF legislation. The ORF editorial committee now not directly warned that the FPÖ might possibly be concerned within the repairs. “In Austria there are political forces that need to destroy the ORF in its present kind and solely depart a so-called ‘primary radio’,” it mentioned in a broadcast. The editorial illustration states that the ORF is a number one medium with the best belief scores within the nation. 85 % of the inhabitants would have each day contact with an ORF program. As well as, a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of euros movement from ORF into the native movie trade, the cultural sector and sport. “As a way to forestall destruction, we attraction to the federal authorities to implement the restore of the ORF legislation demanded by the Constitutional Court docket – with an actual depoliticization of the committees,” mentioned the editorial committee.
