ORF Foundation Council Wants to Improve Customer Service

"The frequency of errors needs to be dramatically reduced," said ORF Foundation Board Chairman Lederer on Wednesday at a press conference. Schütze called for a transformation of the ORF-Beitrags Service GmbH (OBS) into the "most customer-friendly office in the republic."

ORF Foundation Board: Many Problems with Changes and Dunning Procedures at ORF-Beitrags Service GmbH

"It must work like clockwork there," said Schütze, who speaks for the ÖVP "circle of friends" in the top ORF body. This would be the case when "we no longer receive complaints." Currently, there are many problems with address changes, exemption requests, or even in the dunning process. However, ORF Director General Roland Weißmann has already "acted quickly," Schütze was pleased to note. For example, OBS Managing Director Alexander Hirschbeck was replaced in July. Weißmann recently stated that 95 percent of customers are satisfied with the OBS. There are no problems with 3.9 million of the just over four million households.

Lederer, who speaks as the head of the SPÖ "circle of friends" in addition to his role as ORF Foundation Board Chairman, also expressed ideas about the ORF Code of Ethics. He is pushing for secondary employment of ORF employees to be reduced and applied for in a timely manner. About ten to fifteen percent of secondary income should also be made available to colleagues who, for example, cannot afford further training measures. A fund could be established for this purpose, Lederer suggested.

Lederer considers it problematic that ORF employees with an income of 170,000 euros per year or more must be named in a list by law. "Such personalization can have terrible effects. It means enormous psychological pressure for many," said the Foundation Board.

Security Concerns ORF Foundation Board Members

In the upcoming ORF Foundation Council meeting on Thursday, the two also want to address the issue of security, after pro-Palestinian activists were able to reach the ORF newsroom for a disruptive action. "We want to know from the ORF Director General what immediate measures were taken. For us, it is crystal clear: something like this must not happen again. The ORF is part of the critical infrastructure," said Schütze.

Overall, the ORF Foundation Councillors see the media location confronted with "enormous tectonic shifts," said Lederer. They are advocating for a joint media location and are seeking solutions with the Association of Austrian Newspapers (VÖZ) and the Association of Austrian Private Broadcasters (VÖP). In November, the two associations will be invited to the Foundation Council. The topic will include the area of copyright, which has gained additional urgency in times of AI applications trained on the basis of huge data sets. "It cannot be that international digital giants learn from our archives and use our inventory for free. Barriers must be established here," said Lederer.

ORF should save, but not in programming

Lederer and Schütze are satisfied with the recently presented ORF Program 2026. "We are proud of the program. Savings should be made in the structure and not in the programming," said Schütze, referring to "truly not easy to manage savings packages" that occupy the public service media house. The first savings package amounts to a total of 325 million euros from 2023 to 2026. This year, about 89 million euros will be saved, and approximately 104 million euros in 2026. A second savings package, also caused by a change in the law, amounting to 130 to 140 million euros, will affect the ORF from 2027 to 2029. Of this, 24 million euros will fall on 2027, about 49 million euros on 2028, and approximately 59 million euros on 2029.

The Freedom of Information Act, which has come into force, also occupies the top ORF body. An expert opinion has been commissioned to clarify whether or to what extent the meetings of the ORF Foundation Council are affected by it. According to Lederer, this will be discussed in the meeting on Thursday. However, according to the expert opinion, it is unlikely that minutes of meetings must be released upon request, said the Foundation Council Chairman. It is unusual for him and his deputy to invite to a press conference ahead of an ORF Foundation Council meeting. "We have set out to present the nature of the Foundation Council more transparently, clearly, and assertively, without intervening in substantive discussions," explained Lederer.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.