As part of an ORF dialogue forum; to be seen on June 5, 2024 on ORF III
Vienna (OTS) – “What’s in it?”: ORF’s new public value report documents public service performance using 50 questions. Answers come from Federal President Van der Bellen, Armin Wolf, Margit Laufer and Ambra Schuster, among others. The report was published on Tuesday, May 28, 2024 and is available at zukunft.ORF.at. The report was presented as part of an ORF dialogue forum in which ORF program managers answered questions. The discussion event with Gabriele Waldner-Pammesberger, editor-in-chief of “Multimedia Specialist Departments”/ORF News, Fanny Stapf, “ZIB Zack Mini” & “The Big Chance”, the deputy. Ö3 boss Albert Malli and audience councilor Univ.-Prof. Mag. DDr. Matthias Karmasin can be seen on ORF III on Wednesday, June 5th at 12:10 a.m. Klaus Unterberger, ORF Public Value, moderated the event.
The new ORF public value report “What’s in it?”
The ORF receives 50 cents per day and household through the ORF contribution: 50 questions and 50 answers document how the ORF fulfills its public service mandate in the new public value report. Numerous video statements, scientific texts, interviews and lots of numbers, data and facts complement the print edition on zukunft.ORF.at.
Armin Wolf and Margit Laufer, among others, explain how they live their journalistic independence. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Peter Filzmaier (Donauuniversität Krems) and Mag. Gisela Reiter (FH Wien der WKW) explain why ORF information can be trusted, and Univ.-Prof. Mag. DDr. Matthias Karmasin (University of Klagenfurt) answers why you have to pay for ORF services. Ambra Schuster from ORF News deals with the “next generation” on ORF. And Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen comments on the question of why Austrian broadcasting is needed – and expresses a special wish in an interview with Klaus Unterberger from ORF Public Value.
ORF General Director Roland Weißmann: “A strong, pluralistic media landscape is essential for social cohesion and identity formation. We, the quality media, promote public dialogue and combat polarization in order to ensure the participation of all levels of society and reflect diversity. Given these challenges, a strong Austrian broadcaster is crucial for the country and the health of its democracy. The ORF is aware of this responsibility for public value and works with its more than 3,000 employees every day to live up to it and to be an ‘ORF for everyone’.”
Kaus Unterberger, ORF Public Value: “Anyone can claim quality, but the audience rightly demands transparency: Proving quality is the job of the Public Value report. I am pleased about the many meaningful contributions in the current report.”
The public value report is part of the ORF’s mandatory quality assurance and documents how the ORF fulfills its public service mandate.
ORF DialogForum “What’s in it?”
An ORF Dialogue Forum took place on Tuesday, May 28, 2024 to present the new ORF Public Value Report. Under the direction of Klaus Unterberger, ORF Public Value, the audience’s questions were answered by: Gabriele Waldner-Pammesberger, editor-in-chief of “Multimedia Specialist Departments”/ORF News, Fanny Stapf, “ZIB Zack Mini” & “The Big Chance”, the deputy. Ö3 boss Albert Malli and audience councilor Univ.-Prof. Mag. DDr. Matthias Karmasin.
Gabriele Waldner-Pammesberger on the trustworthiness and independence of ORF news: “Our job is to check facts, we have that in our DNA. In public broadcasting we are particularly careful, we are committed to democracy and enlightenment and offer serious, independent and trustworthy information. I think it is essential that we inform our audience at eye level and move away from an attitude of lecturing. We are on the right track, but of course we can always do better.”
Albert Malli on Ö3’s public service mission: “Independence also applies to us as a radio with hourly news and a wide reach. But we must not convert our audience. At Ö3, music is the vehicle for offering public content such as information, culture and also entertainment to our audience. And programs like ‘Ask the whole country’, where everyday questions are passionately discussed, show that Ö3 connects and holds the country together to a certain extent.”
Communication scientist and ORF audience councilor Matthias Karmasin emphasized that a greater differentiation must be made between journalism and social media: “Autonomy, the freedom from political and economic influences on reporting, is central. It is also important to make transparent the editorial standards and criteria used to make decisions. That’s a main difference between serious journalistic media and social media. The former don’t do everything right, but most of what happens on social media is PR, advertising and propaganda. “It’s not bad journalism, it’s not journalism at all,” said Karmasin. Public broadcasting, on the other hand, primarily serves the audience and not any particular interests.
For Fanny Stapf, journalist and presenter, entertainment is an inseparable part of ORF’s public service mission. The ORF KIDS streaming offer would bring new possibilities here: “We can sort in advance which topics are relevant for children in Austria. Entertainment is also a child’s right; Young people have a right to leisure and entertainment.” The ORF must be present on the web and cover all areas of life in order to reach the young generation and not lose them entirely to international platforms. However, the style is crucial: “Entertainment is about authenticity and relatability. Entertainment only works at eye level and if you don’t make fun of others.” The Viennese also made people sit up and take notice with an announcement about new content in the area of information: “We are planning explanatory videos for the kids screen. Such offers work for all age groups, so you can also bring generations together.”
Via video feed, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen expressed his conviction that public broadcasting was an important prerequisite for the functioning of democracy. For this to happen, it must be sufficiently and independently financed. In addition, he should not become boring and should not avoid conflicts. He has to strictly separate information and commentary and see what is happening with the competition. In further feeds, “ZIB 2” anchor Armin Wolf provided information about the independence of his editorial team, ORF Brussels correspondent Raffaela Schaidreiter gave a look behind the scenes and showed what her everyday professional life is like, and sign language interpreter Delil Yilmaz gave insight into his Work for the ORF. When asked about possible improvements in the ORF, “ZIB” TikTok presenter Ambra Schuster, via video, particularly wanted more formats that were explicitly intended for young people and prepared accordingly. “ZIB 2” presenter Margit Laufer, in turn, advocated letting the ORF work in peace again and not viewing it as a political plaything.
The ORF DialogForum is an ORF initiative to stimulate conversation with its audience, Austrian institutions, organizations and groups in society.