The German Association of Journalists North (DJV Nord) has called for the unreserved clarification of the allegations against the management level of the NDR state broadcasting center in Kiel. Such an impression alone damages the broadcaster, whose capital is trust in independent quality journalism, said DJV Nord chairwoman Marina Friedt in a statement on Tuesday. The DJV Nord welcomes the commitment of the NDR state broadcasting council to ensure such clarification.
After a special session on Monday evening, the NDR state broadcasting council in Schleswig-Holstein announced a comprehensive examination of the allegations of political influence on the broadcaster’s reporting at the Kiel location. “We take the allegations made very seriously,” said Laura Pooth, Chairwoman of the State Broadcasting Council. Of course, there shouldn’t be any “political filters” or a working environment that would allow “inappropriate influence or the overruling of individuals,” said Pooth.
The DJV Nord chairwoman Marina Friedt also sees the management of the NDR as having a duty. In the context of the current financial affair at Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), the broadcaster had promised transparency and responsible handling of undesirable developments. “The broadcaster must now keep this promise.”
The allegations are directed against executives of the NDR Schleswig-Holstein. Several employees initially complained internally to the NDR editorial committee. The 33-page final report of the committee was leaked on Monday and is therefore publicly available on the Internet.
The report is mainly about the current editor-in-chief of NDR Schleswig-Holstein, Norbert Lorentzen, and politician Julia Stein. An employee accuses them of influencing political reporting as defined by the state government. Specifically, it is about the conflict between the resigned Interior Minister Hans-Joachim Grote and Prime Minister Daniel Günther (both CDU) in 2020. When the reporter accepted a TV report, several text panels by Grote with allegations against Günther were removed. The reporter then arranged an interview with Grote, which was ultimately forbidden by the editors-in-chief, it is said. The portal “Business Insider” had first reported on this process.
According to the final report, which can now be viewed, other NDR employees also complained about reporting in which “critical information was downplayed”. Editors had spoken of a “political filter”, NDR executives in Kiel would act like “press spokesman for the ministries”.
The ten-member State Broadcasting Council will examine these allegations and “consult external expertise where necessary,” announced Pooth. All consultations and consultation results are kept confidential. After the end of the test, the results would be published.
Immediately before the meeting of the committee on Monday evening, the “Stern” reported online about a letter from 72 employees of the state broadcasting center in Kiel to their own broadcasting center management, who called for a transparent processing of all allegations, it said. It is expected “that all employees of the NDR Schleswig-Holstein will be informed promptly and comprehensively about the further processes and will be involved in the processing”.
In a statement dated August 24, NDR rejected the accusation that there was a “political filter”. “The reporting is unbiased and independent,” the broadcaster wrote.