After all, Patricia Schlesinger proves one thing in the affair about the suspicion of nepotism at RBB: that she is a fighter. But anyone who sees the leadership strength of the RBB director and ARD boss is wrong. Because the fact that the current compliance case has spread to a conflagration in the station is a result of their poor crisis management.
Schlesinger promised clarification and transparency, but lit smoke screens on his own behalf. She denounced alleged fake news, suspected a media campaign and threatened whistleblowers in her own house with the lawyer. At first she talked a lot and said little. Then she declared that she was silent for "legal reasons" in order to give several interviews shortly afterwards. Schlesinger stayed away on flimsy grounds at a planned hearing in the state parliament of Brandenburg, the federal state that exercises media supervision over its station. Politicians from all factions reacted with outrage.
The mood in the RBB headquarters in Berlin is in the basement. There is a lack of understanding and uncertainty among the 2,600 employees about their boss' maneuvering. And not just when dealing with the allegations of violations of the good morals of the broadcaster. The director lost the trust of her own people a long time ago. The reasons for this go back further, it's not just the revelations of the smoldering affair.
Schlesinger positioned herself as an innovator at the regional broadcaster, which was hit by a shortage of money and weak ratings. But instead of strengthening the journalistic profile of the RBB, the former NDR editor got bogged down in activism and at the same time pushed ahead with the planning for a mega real estate project with all means - the alleged silver bullet into the multimedia future. But the “Digital Media House” is proving to be hopelessly oversized and a bottomless financial pit.
The compliance investigation by an external law firm will last until the fall. But regardless of the result of the legal examination, one thing is already certain: Patricia Schlesinger cannot be the one who will lead the station into the future after the days of chaos. The head of the board of directors, Wolf-Dieter Wolf, has already resigned, officially temporarily. But nobody in the station expects him to return. The director should follow his example – and give up her position at the RBB as ARD chairman.
