The Structure: Who Controls the Controller? #
The broadcasting council is supposed to represent the public. That is the theory. The reality looks different.
A study by the Otto Brenner Foundation from 2025 shows: 41 percent of broadcasting council members are party-affiliated or party-aligned. Among the administrative boards, the figure is at least 53 percent. The Federal Constitutional Court ruled in 2014 that no more than one third may be state-affiliated. The broadcasters ignore this. For over ten years.
Former ministers sit on the boards. Party functionaries. Union leaders with party memberships. The fee-payer has no right to vote. No voice. No say. He pays. That is enough.
The Complaint System: A System Without a Valve #
Those who complain are turned away. The numbers are devastating.
From 2016 to 2021, 377 program complaints were filed with ARD, ZDF, Deutschlandradio, and Deutsche Welle. 99.1 percent were rejected. Exactly two were recognized as justified. Two out of 377. [2]
In 2024, the number rose to 1,129 complaints — 60 percent more than the previous year. Five were recognized as justified. Five out of 1,129. A success rate of 0.44 percent. [3]
That is not quality assurance. That is a defense mechanism.
Corona: The Hour of Uniform Opinion #
During the pandemic, public broadcasting became the government’s mouthpiece. Not a corrective. Not a questioner. A mouthpiece.
Critical scientists — Ioannidis, Bhakdi, Streeck — were ignored, ridiculed, or labeled as conspiracy cranks. Anyone who asked questions was the enemy.
As we documented in our article about ZDF’s enemy-labeling: The ZDF today openly speaks of the “enemy” — meaning its own critics.
What has turned out to be wrong or questionable in hindsight?
- Outdoor masking: Largely ineffective. Aerosol researchers said so early. The broadcasters ignored it.
- School closures: Damage to children was severe. Effectiveness was minimal. ARD and ZDF did not ask questions.
- Vaccine side effects: Downplayed for months. Post-vac patients appeared only late.
- Lockdown effectiveness: Internationally disputed. On German public broadcasting: without alternative.
The RKI Protocols: And Public Broadcasting Stayed Silent #
In March 2024, Multipolar magazine published the RKI crisis team protocols. 2,500 pages. It was the biggest journalistic revelation on pandemic policy in Germany.
And who delivered it? Not ARD. Not ZDF. A small online magazine with a handful of editors. [8]
ARD and ZDF only reported when they could no longer stay silent. ZDF then declared the protocols contained “no new political scandals.” That is not accountability.
An open letter in the Berliner Zeitung demanded: “Start doing serious Corona accountability work!” There was no response. [9]
Ole Skambraks: The Man Who Spoke #
In October 2021, SWR employee Ole Skambraks published an open letter: “I can’t do this anymore.” He criticized his broadcaster’s Corona coverage as one-sided.
SWR’s response: Termination. In November 2021. Justification: “false statements of fact” and “severe disruption of workplace harmony.” [4]
The one-sidedness was not the problem. The problem was that someone named it.
Boehmermann: Court Jester or Government Spokesperson? #
Jan Boehmermann alleged that then-BSI chief Arne Schoenbohm had ties to Russian actors. Federal Interior Minister Faeser subsequently reassigned Schoenbohm. The Munich Regional Court ruled in December 2024: ZDF reported falsely. Four out of five claims were prohibited. [5]
ZDF announced it would continue its collaboration with Boehmermann in 2026. Of course.
The Salaries: Luxury at Citizens’ Expense #
WDR Director General Tom Buhrow: 413,100 euros. SWR chief Kai Gniffke: 392,530 euros. ZDF Director General Norbert Himmler: 384,061 euros. [7]
ZDF reports 17.3 million euros in pension provisions for its six-member executive leadership. For six people. [11]
As we showed in our article on the flag and graphics blunders: For 8.7 billion euros per year, these broadcasters cannot even correctly assign country flags.
The British Mirror: The BBC #
The BBC fights the same demons. In 2024, the BBC manipulated a Trump speech in its Panorama program. A Cardiff University study found systematic underrepresentation of the Liberal Democrats. YouGov 2023: Only 22 percent of Britons consider the BBC neutral. [10]
The finding is international: Public broadcasting has a structural problem with independence. It lies in the system.
The Counter-Public #
While ARD and ZDF considered Corona coverage case closed, platforms emerged:
Multipolar liberated the RKI files. Three editors did what 20,000 public broadcasting employees did not.
Kontrafunk, founded by former Deutschlandfunk editor Burkhard Mueller-Ullrich, became Germany’s leading independent radio broadcaster.
NachDenkSeiten, online since 2004, continuously provided counter-perspectives.
You do not have to agree with everything. But you must acknowledge: They took on a task that public broadcasting abandoned.
How ARD rewrites its own history, we documented with Fukushima coverage.
The Demand: Reform or Abolition #
An oversight system that is 41 percent party-affiliated. A complaint system with 0.44 percent success rate. 8.7 billion euros for government-aligned coverage. Whistleblowers fired. Satirists judicially convicted — still on air. Director generals earning 400,000+ euros.
This is not broadcasting for the public. This is broadcasting against the public.
The question is not whether public broadcasting must be reformed. The question is whether it is still reformable.
Sources #
[1] Otto Brenner Foundation: Broadcasting councils lack transparency
[2] PRO Media Magazine: Rejected program complaints
[3] Uebermedien: What do program complaints achieve?
[4] Stuttgarter Zeitung: SWR terminates employee
[5] NZZ: Boehmermann and ZDF lose in court
[6] Handelsblatt: ARD and ZDF revenues around 8.7 billion
[7] Berliner Zeitung: 2,000 families pay Buhrow’s salary
[8] Multipolar: RKI protocols
[9] Berliner Zeitung: Open letter to ARD
[10] Reuters Institute: The BBC under scrutiny
[11] Telepolis: ZDF leadership: Dream pensions
[12] ZDF Heute: Scientist criticizes reporting during Corona
8.7 billion euros per year. 20,000 employees. Zero consequences. Public broadcasting did not break down. It was built this way.
