Media policy in Saxony-Anhalt: End of a complicated relationship

Actually, now it would be time for a nice party, ideally with contribution funds. After all, someone is leaving here who has shaped public broadcasting like no other. And this over almost a quarter of a century.

This is not about artistic directors, Klaus J. Behrendt or Florian Silbereisen. Rainer Robra, head of the Magdeburg State Chancellery and as such also the top media politician in Saxony-Anhalt, called it quits on Monday. The non-party State Secretary for Economic Affairs Gert Zender will now take over until the AfD graces the government.

By the way, the party wouldn't be a thank you for his services, but rather for the fact that he's gone. Because this is where one of the most complicated love affairs between public broadcasting and one of its biggest fans comes to an end. Yes, the CDU man Robra was of course a big supporter of ARD, ZDF and Co. In everyday life, however, he always disguised himself very cleverly and sometimes fought against them in the public eye.

“Then he can pay for the party himself and invite us all, because there is money,” says the roommate. Especially because Robra went into battle alongside Saxony-Anhalt's Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff against an increase in the broadcasting fee. Come what may. What came was the AfD rubbing its hands and playing into this policy. And Robra was always the big supporter when it came to public broadcasting, its offerings and, above all, its ability and willingness to reform.

The MDR in particular suffered the most, as it usually accepted its fate stoically, but is now talking nothing. After all, in 2020 it was not the AfD, but the state government in Saxony-Anhalt, led by the CDU, that unconstitutionally rejected the increase in the broadcasting fee, says MDR legal advisor Jens-Ole Schröder today. "Apparently they were hoping for a political advantage. If we look at the election results, we can see that people (...) obviously voted for the original and not the copy."

Robra always denied it. Now the AfD in “its” federal state is on the verge of getting serious about its so-called media policy. The election of Tobias Rausch (AfD) as President of the State Parliament on Tuesday showed how things are going with Robra's own party and the oaths of loyalty to the firewall.

Rainer Robra has nothing to do with it anymore. It is undisputed that he actually wanted to push public broadcasting to reform and thus ensure its own future viability. But with his strategy, the tragic hero from Hanover became a little ÖRR animal lover who backed the wrong horse and did himself and the system a disservice.

The soon-to-be 75-year-old is actually unemployable. Does he see it that way himself? “Don’t ever do anything with media again,” says the roommate.