Editor representation

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An editor's representative (sometimes also called an editor 's committee) is the professional group representation of program staff in public broadcasters . It is elected by the editors' meeting.

With such a non-hierarchically integrated committee, program conflicts between program employees and superiors can be resolved and program decisions can be kept away from pressure under labor law. The guiding principle accepted by those involved is that it is of fundamental importance for a democratically constituted society to preserve the freedom of broadcasting and to protect it against any interference.

The editor's representation must be heard by the management of the broadcasting corporation before fundamental measures with a significant impact on the program are to be taken in the broadcaster. It must also endeavor to solve program conflicts.

By way of example an excerpt from the WDR - editor Statute :

“Any program employee who considers the freedom of his journalistic or artistic work on the radio to be impaired can call the editor's representative. The editor's representative is obliged to investigate the matter immediately. The caller must not suffer any disadvantage from this. "

Journalistic responsibility

The broadcaster fulfills its program mandate under its own responsibility within the framework of its right to self-administration, in particular through the professional qualifications and functions of its program staff. The task of the program staff is to contribute to the fulfillment of the statutory tasks. The Federal Constitutional Court emphasizes this task of the program staff and differentiates it from any subordinate representation of interests.

“Through an (...) editor's participation in the program design and responsibility, the professional group within the broadcasting company, which is based on the division of labor, is to be strengthened which directly fulfills the mission of broadcasting to be the medium and factor of opinion formation. For this reason, the participation of the editor is not about granting external influence, but about internal participation in the performance of the function protected by Article 5, Paragraph 1, Sentence 2 of the Basic Law. As such, it is not given to the editors in the interest of self-realization in their job or to enforce their subjective views, but to fulfill their mediation function. "

Editors' meeting

In order to effectively carry out the statutory tasks and to participate in related internal processes of opinion and decision-making, the editor's representatives prepare meetings of the program employees at which questions of fundamental importance are decided. The editor's representative executes the resolutions and decides on individual matters on the basis of these resolutions and the editorial statute.

Cross-channel organizational form

In the course of time it has been found that editor representatives cannot act effectively at all relevant levels if they limit themselves to the respective problem situation of their own stations, especially since not every station has an editor's statute secured by a state treaty. The competition with the commercial broadcasters, but also between the public broadcasters, has effects on the program that can only be effectively countered by jointly determining the position. For this reason, the Working Group of Editors 'Committees (AGRA) was formed in 1984, a platform on which the editors' representatives from ARD , Deutschlandradio , Deutsche Welle and ZDF exchange ideas. It takes a public position on media-related topics and advocates establishing editorial status in all broadcasters . In May 2019, AGRA and the editorial board of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, ORF, agreed to work together against attacks by populist parties.

literature

  • Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem: Editorial statute in the radio station Nomos (1972), ISBN 3-7890-0057-4 .
  • Martin Stock: Inner media freedom: A modern concept of quality assurance . With text attachment: Editor's statute on radio . Nomos (2001), ISBN 3-7890-7265-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ WDR law ( Memento from October 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Law on the State Treaty on North German Broadcasting (NDR). In: Justizportal Hamburg. Hamburg District Court, March 10, 1992, accessed on September 22, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court of February 5, 1991 Az. 1 BvF 1/85, 1/88 ( Memento of the original of March 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. via DFR @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.servat.unibe.ch
  4. ↑ Wiki of the Working Group of Editors' Committees (AGRA)
  5. ↑ https://www.sueddeutsche.de/medien/ard-zdf-orf-deutschlandradio-populismus-allianz-1.4459659