Organizacja oraz finansowanie publicznego radia i telewizji w Republice Federalnej Niemiec

Abstrakt

THE ORGANIZATION AND FINANCING OF A PUBLIC RADIO AND TELEVISION IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

In the Weimar Republic and in the Third Reich, radio broadcasting was dependent on the government. The Federal Republic of Germany, on the other hand, created a legal system that provided the mass media with legal and factual independence. The system of radio and television was influenced by the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court. The public radio and television broadcasters include national broadcasters and joint broadcasters of federal states, organized as public-law establishments with legal personality. The management of broadcasters has been implemented basing on similar principles. The radio broadcasting board is a constitutive and controlling body, the administrative board and the authorizing officer are executive organs. The national radio board consists of people delegated by the parliament, national government, circles and organizations which are significant politically, ideologically and socially, according to the statutory key. The board of Deutschlandradio, a corporation associating ARD, ZDF and national broadcasters, consists of representatives of the federal states, the federal government and social organizations. The radio board selects the majority of the members of the administrative board, selects and dismisses the authorizing officer, consents to the casting of the broadcaster’s management positions, adopts program guidelines, advises the authorizing officer in shaping the program and other basic matters, approves the economic plan, adopts the discharge resolution. The administrative board supports the broadcaster’s economic development, concludes an employment contract with the authorizing officer, settles disputes between the authorizing officer and the broadcaster, supervises the management of cases by the authorizing officer, controls the budget and annual closure drawn up by the authorizing officer, publishes the balance sheet and the annual report, takes decisions on contracts if there is no competent authorizing officer. The broadcasters are legally supervised by the competent government or minister. The internal control exercised by the radio board plays a fundamental role in the area of ensuring compliance with the law. German radio and television is financed by levies — initially from fees, and starting on 1.01.2013 from contributions levied on households. There is financial equalization in public radio and television. Such a system of financing provides the public media with independence and ensures the implementation of their statutory tasks, in particular the fulfilment of the public mission.