In the end the jolt was too great. The director of the Berlin-Brandenburg radio station, Schlesinger, who has been criticized for possible conflicts of interest, resigns from her position as ARD chairwoman. There is already a plan for her successor. However, she wants to continue to preside over the regional broadcaster.
In view of numerous allegations, the director of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), Patricia Schlesinger, is resigning from her position as chairwoman of the ARD with immediate effect. “The public discussion about decisions and processes in the rbb that fall within my area of ??responsibility now also affects the interests of the ARD,” she quotes the RBB. “The management of RBB and I now see our main task in helping to clarify these allegations and focusing our attention on RBB. That is why we are now handing over the chairmanship within ARD and thank the other broadcasters for their willingness to take this step enable.”
As it was also said, West German Broadcasting (WDR) with director Tom Buhrow will take over the tasks. In September, the ARD General Assembly in Bremen is to appoint a new chairman. He will take over the business from January 1st. According to the information, Südwestrundfunk has declared its interest. Thus, the former ARD-aktuell editor-in-chief (“Tagesschau” and “Tagesthemen”) Kai Gniffke could lead the network of stations.
Schlesinger has been exposed to various allegations for weeks. The core question is whether the broadcaster boss and the broadcaster chief inspector could have treated each other too laxly in the event of a possible collision of interests.
Consulting contracts for an RBB construction project and orders for Schlesinger’s husband at Messe Berlin play a role. The RBB Board of Directors Chairman Wolf-Dieter Wolf is also the chief supervisor of the state-owned trade fair. Both rejected the allegations. Investigations are underway in the houses. Wolf’s RBB office is at a standstill and the construction project is on hold.
Schlesinger also attracted criticism because of a salary increase of 16 percent to 303,000 euros and most recently because of allegations of non-transparent procurement and use of her company car. There was also resentment because of official dinners, which Schlesinger organized in her function as RBB director in her private apartment in Berlin.
Schlesinger had been the chairwoman of the public ARD community since the beginning of the year and represented it as the most important representative to the outside world. RBB chaired the ARD for the first time in its history. As a rule, the presidency initially lasts one year and in the second half of the year the directors agree that the term of office should be extended by a further year to a total of two years. Schlesinger’s re-election was still pending. The RBB director had taken over the chair from WDR director Buhrow. According to the rule, he was her deputy during Schlesinger’s tenure.
The 61-year-old has been director of RBB since 2016, which is one of the smaller institutions in the ARD broadcasting network. Her second term began last year and lasts five years until 2026. Nothing was announced on Thursday about her position as RBB director. Schlesinger had recently made it clear in interviews that she would continue in office while the allegations were being investigated. At the same time, she had shown herself open to speaking to the RBB board of directors again about the controversial increase in her salary.
