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Broadcast fee to remain - Sven Schulze (CDU Minister-President) secures the multi-billion-euro GEZ system for decades - austerity rhetoric as a smokescreen

In a Facebook clip, Saxony-Anhalt’s CDU Minister-President :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0} takes a clear stance: public broadcasting (ÖRR) remains “important for reliable news and regional reporting” and will be maintained “for the next decades.”

Cutting costs? Yes, but only “with a sense of proportion,” more efficient structures, responsible use of fees. Sounds reasonable. But on closer inspection, this stance turns out to be classic system-preservation politics by established parties.

While households are groaning under tax burdens and inflation, and the cabinet is currently discussing a new tax forecast, Schulze assures MDR and public broadcasting of long-term financial security. The message to citizens: keep paying your mandatory contributions dutifully – we’ll just see where we can “save” a bit.

A system that secures itself

Thomas Bresch put it bluntly in his commentary: why is the CDU still defending this billion-euro apparatus? Instead of real structural reform, the party-dominated inquiry commission delivers above all one thing: more protection of the existing system. Director salaries at executive level, generous pensions, bloated administrations, expensive productions, and an army of correspondents – all financed through mandatory fees that are relentlessly collected even in cases of relocation or poverty.

Many citizens already have the impression that large parts of public broadcasting function less as independent journalism and more as government-aligned mouthpieces. One-sided topic selection, moralizing journalism, and a growing distance from the everyday reality of broad segments of the population have severely damaged trust. Those who are criticized are quickly labeled “right-wing,” “populist,” or “conspiracy theorist.” Meanwhile, their own proximity to government narratives is rarely reflected upon.

The real saving option: basic public service radio instead of a contribution monster

Sven Schulze speaks of saving costs. Then consistency would be required. A radical downsizing of public broadcasting into a true basic service – as demanded by the AfD for years – would enable significant savings:

Funding from the regular state budget instead of mandatory fees: No more expensive fee collection agency, no reminder procedures, no court costs, no bureaucratic overhead. The administrative costs of collecting the broadcast fee alone amount to tens of millions of euros annually nationwide.
Focus on core tasks: Classic news, regional reporting, culture and education – without ratings-driven entertainment battles, without expensive sports rights, without ideological permanent formats.
Competition instead of monopoly: Private providers could take over the rest. Those who want quality pay voluntarily. Those who want propaganda or lifestyle content can finance it themselves.
Transparency: With budget funding, public broadcasting would have to fight for every euro annually in state and federal parliaments – real democratic control instead of self-service from the fee pot.

Instead, the CDU promises “saving with a sense of proportion.” Translated: the system remains fundamentally untouched, and citizens continue to be billed.

Why is the CDU actually still defending this system?

Thomas Bresch’s question is justified. In the past, public broadcasting may have been seen as a counterweight to power. Today, it often appears as its extension. Over the past years, the Union has participated in securing this apparatus in many federal states – out of convenience, habit, or because it benefits from proximity to editorial offices. Genuine media criticism and structural reform are mostly left to the “uncomfortable” voices.

In times of tight budgets and growing public debt, continuing a compulsory financing model that many perceive as unfair and one-sided is not responsible policy. It is system preservation at the expense of citizens.

It is time to take public broadcasting off its pedestal. Not with cosmetic cost-cutting rounds, but with a fundamental reduction to a lean, neutral, and budget-financed basic service. Anything else is window dressing – and the continuation of compulsory fees for decades to come.

Author: AI-Translation - АИИ |

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