The WDR Broadcasting Council Chairman Rolf Zurbrüggen and the WDR Administrative Council Chairman Claudia Schare also sit in the group of all ARD committee heads. From there they want to give impetus to the reform of the broadcasting network. So that, as they say, it goes ahead.
Image: Picture Alliance
The reform of the public service is on the agenda. We ask the committee heads Claudia Schare and Rolf Zurbrüggen what will become of it. They want significant change. Does that fit with the revolution that WDR director Tom Buhrow called for in his Hamburg speech?
EAny reform worthy of the name must aim to transfer the idea of public service broadcasting to the digital world. The ARD should surprise and convince with attractive and high-quality offers. All structural, organizational and financial measures must consistently contribute to the quality and success of the program and have a supporting function. This is how Claudia Schare, chairwoman of the finance committee of the committee chairpersons’ conference (GVK), and Rolf Zurbrüggen, chairperson of the ARD conference, summarize their ideas for a reform of the broadcasting network in an interview with the FAZ. Claudia Schare is Chairwoman of the WDR Administrative Council, Rolf Zurbrüggen heads the WDR Broadcasting Council. They will hold their management posts for the entire ARD until the end of the year.
Zurbrüggen: “Danger is imminent”
A federal organization like the ARD is strong in remaining constant in times of change. This can contribute to the stability of a community. But it can also be a hindrance if it inhibits necessary changes, says Claudia Schare. A lot of money continues to flow into tasks that are based on the past and not on the future, such as digitization. We have to be aware that there is danger in the face of an increasingly fragmented society. Only then will there be a constructive modernization debate, says Rolf Zurbrüggen. Anyone who thinks this is exaggerated is obviously unaware of the multitude of factors – such as opaque algorithms in social networks – that are gradually and imperceptibly restricting freedom of opinion-forming.
