Friederike von Kirchbach resigns as Chairwoman of the RBB Broadcasting Council. Now the ARD turns on.
Update from Saturday, August 20, 5:15 p.m .: The ARD leadership has withdrawn the trust of the acting management of the RBB. “We, the directors of ARD, no longer have confidence that the station’s management will be able to process the various incidents quickly enough,” said ARD chairman Tom Buhrow on Saturday in Cologne. A few hours earlier, the chairwoman of the RBB broadcasting council, Friederike von Kirchbach, had resigned from her post.
The background is the affair about the former RBB director Patricia Schlesinger, who has since been recalled. Buhrow criticized that his colleagues continue to hear new allegations exclusively from the press. He emphasized that the RBB now needs a fresh start. “This will also have to affect the current management of the station,” because it is questionable that the RBB can be stabilized with its current structure, Buhrow emphasized. Exactly this is “in the elementary interest of the ARD, the long-suffering employees and also the people in the RBB broadcasting area”.
Schlesinger scandal: RBB broadcasting council chairperson resigns
First report from Saturday, August 20th: Berlin – The chairwoman of the RBB broadcasting council, Friederike von Kirchbach, resigns with immediate effect in view of the crisis of the public broadcaster ARD. The 67-year-old said in a statement on Saturday. There is now another personal consequence in the affair about allegations of nepotism against the recalled director Patricia Schlesinger.
Von Kirchbach said: “RBB is about to make a new start. After ten years as Chair of the Broadcasting Council, I would like to make a contribution and make my position available.” With the dismissal of Schlesinger as artistic director, the committee cleared the way for new structures and people in the ARD broadcaster. “For everything that comes now, I see new people in charge, so I’m resigning,” it said.
At the same time, she emphasized that the current debate about the RBB and the public service system should not be about people, for her the matter is in the foreground. “This includes the self-critical examination of our work in the Broadcasting Council in the past. It is important to me that I started this discussion.” On the other hand, she is not willing to have her professional integrity as a pastor and pastor called into question, this is happening publicly and is unacceptable to her.
Schlesinger scandal at RBB: Even von Kirchbach is no longer in office
Von Kirchbach has chaired the supervisory body since 2013 and has been a member since 2007. The deputy chairman of the Broadcasting Council, Dieter Pienkny, will take over the official business on an interim basis for the time being.
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The Broadcasting Council is one of the control bodies in the public broadcaster, it keeps an eye on the program work. The committee also elects the director. On Monday, the members of the Broadcasting Council recalled Schlesinger. The Board of Directors, as the second control body, is now dealing with the specific termination of the contract. (tu/dpa)
