AfD on culture and media

The AfD wants to promote the German language and rejects gender-inclusive language in public authorities, media and institutions. It considers such forms grammatically wrong and harmful to the language as a cultural asset. Regional dialects are to be protected.

The AfD wants to protect the German language. It is against gender-inclusive wording. That means special forms that name women and men, for example with a star sign. The party also wants to keep dialects alive. Libraries should get more money for books.

According to the program, about 70 percent of the population reject gender-inclusive language. Public authorities and institutions are to use well-kept everyday language. Language teaching in schools and adult education is to have high standards and performance tests. Libraries are to receive larger purchasing budgets and also consider conservative topics, regional publishers and local authors. Lower Saxony's literary history is to become more visible through research, events and exhibitions, and archives are to digitize historical documents.

The AfD wants to preserve and fund German and regional culture, customs and historic buildings. Significant structures are to be reconstructed, and local history and industrial museums are to receive more support. The party sees these as regional anchors in an age of globalization.

The AfD wants to keep customs and old buildings. Important buildings should be rebuilt. Small local museums should get more money. The party says people need their home region to feel secure.

The program describes the AfD as conservative in the sense of the Christian West and views German history as a continuum. Cultural assets from Lower Saxony and East Prussia are to be digitized, and the heritage of the former German eastern territories is to be preserved and passed on. Monuments and memorials are to be actively used and made part of everyday school life. Regional museums, often run by volunteers, are to get more funding, partly because they boost tourism in rural communities.

The AfD wants to keep public funding for museums, theaters, opera houses and orchestras but expects them to focus on outstanding historical works. It criticizes what it sees as a left-leaning politicization of the arts scene and commits to artistic freedom without political directives.

The AfD wants to keep funding theaters, operas and museums. These places should mainly show famous old works. The party thinks the arts scene is too left-wing. Music schools and clubs should keep getting money.

According to the program, classical high culture needs state subsidies. Broad parts of the population are to gain access to the arts. To that end the AfD wants to fund music schools and associations, strengthen art and music as school subjects, and continue and if possible expand programs such as "Wir machen die Musik". The party considers topics such as gender, anti-racism and the "fight against the right" overrepresented in cultural institutions. It invites artists who want to deal with the AfD to talk with it.

The AfD demands that the SPD-owned media holding ddvg give up its stakes in publishing houses. In addition, press groups and commercial radio and TV broadcasters are to be separated from one another. The party justifies this with the independence of the media.

The SPD owns shares in newspaper publishers. The AfD wants the SPD to give up these shares. Newspaper companies should also not own radio and TV stations. The AfD says this makes media more independent.

The program describes the media industry in Lower Saxony as concentrated in a few companies and mostly left-liberal in outlook. It names the ddvg's stakes in northern German newspaper publishers, above all the Madsack group with its Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland news network. In the AfD's view, whoever dominates the newspaper market should not also control broadcasting. The program regards independent media as a precondition for a real separation of powers.

The AfD wants to give notice on the state treaty with public broadcaster NDR in 2024, effective 2026, and in the long run leave all broadcasting treaties. Non-commercial broadcasting is to offer only what private stations cannot provide. Broadcasting councils are to be elected directly by citizens.

The AfD wants to end the contract with the broadcaster NDR. Public broadcasting should become much smaller. It should only show what private stations do not offer. Citizens should elect the boards that oversee broadcasting.

The program considers public broadcasting in its current form outdated because commercial providers already cover many program categories. After leaving the treaties, the state media authority is to secure basic provision of information, education, culture and entertainment by licensing commercial and non-commercial providers. Members of the broadcasting councils, where the broadcasters continue to exist, and of the supervisory bodies of the state media authorities are to be chosen by direct election. The AfD says this would end the influence of parties and lobby groups.

The AfD wants to abolish the mandatory broadcasting fee. Non-commercial radio and TV services are instead to be funded by levies on media corporations, money from patrons, and voluntary donations from the audience.

Today every household must pay for public broadcasting. The AfD wants to end this duty. The money should come from media companies and donors. People who watch or listen can give money if they want.

The program calls the fee a compulsory charge and no longer wants to oblige citizens to pay it. Only content that would not exist without subsidies is to be supported. The party names three sources of money: levies on large media companies, contributions from wealthy patrons, and voluntary payments from listeners and viewers.