FPÖ media spokesman Christian Hafenecker announced this to Ö1. “We want to cut this connection between the media and politics,” he said, and want to establish eye level with the FPÖ-affiliated media – “free media that report fairly regarding us”. These are currently being discredited. “There needs to be a sensible discourse.”
“Intransparent and tabloid-oriented”
The placement of advertisements by public authorities amounted to around 200 million euros in each of the previous two years. Just over a tenth of this came from the federal government. The federal government’s spending on advertising in Austria’s daily newspapers and their online portals was non-transparent, without a comprehensible common line and very tabloid-oriented, as a study by the Vienna media company showed last year. In 2023, the turquoise-green government implemented an amendment to the Media Transparency Act, according to which advertisements below a “minor threshold” and in non-periodic media must also be reported in the future. However, an upper limit is still not fixed.
WKStA is investigating several cases
The Economic and Corruption Public Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) is currently investigating several cases on suspicion of advertising corruption. For three years, top representatives of the ÖVP have been under investigation in the so-called advertisement and survey affair. Recently, the WKStA has also been dealing with the FPÖ. Specifically, the former FPÖ leader and Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache and several former blue ministers – including the current FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl – are listed as suspects.
A letter signed by Kickl that was sent to editors-in-chief and managing directors of various media companies shows that the FPÖ is currently preparing for possible government participation and is considering the media sector. In it he asks for suggestions as to what measures politicians should take to better ensure media freedom and media diversity in the country. Here too, the lavish advertising placements are seen as “detrimental” to independent journalism.
Reduce ORF to “basic radio”.
The FPÖ sees the ORF as having generous financial security at the expense of the citizens and spoke of reducing it to a “basic radio”. The party has already emphasized several times that it wants to abolish the ORF budget levy introduced at the beginning of the year and replace it with financing from the federal budget – a plan that alarms many experts given its increased dependence on the government.
Kurt Egger, media spokesman for the ÖVP, viewed Hafenecker’s announcement of a reduction in advertisements with doubt. “During its time in government, the FPÖ advertised wildly through its former ministries and showered right-wing media with tax money,” he said in a broadcast. The FPÖ has always preferred right-wing extremist media to those that provide factual and critical information, said the ÖVP politician.
