Many front pages of Austria’s daily newspapers remained blank on Press Freedom Day. The print media represented in the Association of Austrian Newspapers (VÖZ) are thus protesting against the planned ORF amendments.
In a jointly signed letter, the newspaper publishers warn that media diversity in Austria is “existentially threatened” by the legislative reform presented by the federal government. At the same time, a revision of the ORF law is required, in particular even more extensive restrictions on ORF.at.
Brief an Nehammer
Media diversity is a guarantee for diversity of opinion, according to the letter addressed to Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), the members of the Federal Government and the National Council, which was published today on the second page of the daily newspapers. “Without media diversity, there is no freedom of choice. And without freedom of choice, there can be no liberal democracy.”
With the planned amendment, the ORF will receive “additional public funds and significantly more opportunities to expand its activities and offers in the digital space. That’s good for the ORF. And bad for media diversity.”
With at least 710 million euros in ORF contributions, the public broadcaster is “now increasingly competing with the private journalistic media”, which “are cut off from any future development opportunities”. “The Austrian media diversity is existentially threatened by this!”
With editorials against the amendment to the law
The newspaper publishers are demanding “to counteract a threatening monopoly of opinion” and a revision of the ORF law. Democracy needs diversity of opinion so that the pages do not remain white, concludes the letter on International Press Freedom Day. The editors-in-chief of the newspapers flanked the protest with editorials against the proposed law.
The restriction to 350 articles per week in ORF.at planned in the law “is not enough”, according to the “Presse”. “A little less content on the blue page, as now vaguely promised in the law, changes almost nothing,” writes the “Kurier”. And the “Kleine Zeitung” describes ORF.at as “a state free beer product”.
On the other hand, the front page of the daily newspaper “Österreich”, which started a petition against the planned household levy with the headline “Stop the ORF tax”, did not remain empty. The aim is an “independent ORF reform and sustainable financing of the Austrian media location,” it said in a broadcast.
