FDP on culture and media

The FDP wants to update the state media law for the digital age so that publishers and private radio stations get more room to operate. This is meant to keep local journalism financially viable. The party opposes extensive media offerings run by cities and counties.

The FDP wants to change the rules for private media. Newspaper publishers should find it easier to offer radio and TV. Local radio stations should be able to earn money more easily. Cities should not run large media services themselves.

The provisions in sections 33a and following of the state media law are to be revised because they allow publishers only limited broadcasting. Private local radio should be given the same preferred visibility on digital platforms as regional WDR programs, secured by interstate treaty. Local stations should be better integrated into disaster warning chains. The FDP rejects a forced shutdown of FM radio and wants to open DAB+ to additional providers.

The FDP wants a fundamental reform of public broadcasting, limiting it to a few channels with a clear profile. News, education and culture should take priority, while expensive entertainment should be cut back. The party expects this to hold down the broadcasting fee.

The FDP wants to make public broadcasters smaller. There should be fewer channels. They should mainly inform and educate. There should be fewer expensive shows. This should keep the broadcasting fee from rising so much.

Structures are to be cut back substantially and duplication avoided. North Rhine-Westphalia should push for a new interstate treaty and amend the WDR Act. The WDR broadcasting council would shrink from 55 to 40 members, and in the long run the FDP wants external oversight modeled on the BBC. Contracts with production companies should become more transparent. The broadcasters' online expansion should not crowd out private press outlets, and the rules protecting them should be tightened.

The FDP wants journalistic work to be eligible for nonprofit status. Nonprofit investigative projects and local press outlets could then fund themselves through donations. The party also wants to support training and networking for young journalists.

The FDP wants journalism to count as nonprofit work. Nonprofit means the work serves everyone and gets tax benefits. Then projects that do not seek profit can get donations more easily. Young journalists should also get more help with training.

The Bundesrat initiative started by the state is to be continued, and the FDP backs the federal government's matching plan. Training programs such as the state media authority's Cashcamp are to be expanded, as is startup advice for journalists. Institutions such as the internationale filmschule köln and the Mediengründerzentrum are to be involved as partners. The party supports the planned journalism institute in Bonn as a place for research, further training and networking.

The FDP wants to keep promoting media literacy across all age groups to counter fake news, hate messages and conspiracy theories. Existing projects are to be expanded, with a particular focus on schools.

The FDP wants people to handle media better. That way they can spot false news more easily. Good projects on this should grow. Schools matter most to the FDP here. Students should be able to make their own papers and blogs.

Projects such as #DigitalCheckNRW are to be developed further. Fact-checkers and the prevention projects Medienscout NRW and ZEBRA run by the state media authority should keep receiving funding. Students should get support in setting up school newspapers and blogs. The FDP also wants attacks on media workers prosecuted consistently and closer exchange between police and journalists' associations on protection plans.

The FDP wants to keep increasing the state's culture budget, by 20 million euros every year. This is meant to strengthen the breadth and diversity of the cultural scene, from theaters and museums to independent artists.

The FDP wants to spend more money on culture. Every year, 20 million euros should be added. The money should help theaters, museums and independent artists. Clubs and amateur culture should benefit too.

The platform notes that state culture funding had already risen by half beforehand. Institutional culture, the independent scene and amateur culture are all to be supported. The FDP also wants targeted support for top-level artistic work and sees no conflict with broad funding. Cultural institutions should also get help with more diversity in programming, casts and leadership, and with digitalization.

The FDP wants to create a state fund to preserve and strengthen cultural venues in rural areas. Local initiatives would receive money to renovate, reopen or keep running venues such as small stages or art-house cinemas. The "Dritte Orte" (third places) program is also to be strengthened.

The FDP wants to strengthen culture in the countryside. The state should set up a new fund for this. Local groups can use it to save small stages or cinemas. The state works together with towns and cities on this.

The platform cites the poor structural condition of many venues, outdated technology, lack of accessibility and gaps in digitalization. The state is to support municipalities and the regional associations (Landschaftsverbände) in this task. Rural cultural venues should network more closely with each other and with other institutions.

The FDP wants to tie public arts funding to fair fees being paid in the funded projects. The platform points to often difficult financial conditions in the independent scene. At the same time, artists' entrepreneurial mindset is to be strengthened.

Many independent artists earn little. The FDP wants to change that. State money should only go to projects that pay fairly. Art students should also learn how to work as entrepreneurs.

Alongside artists' own responsibility, the FDP sees organizers and public funders as obliged to ensure minimum standards. Structural costs are to be better recognized in funding. Entrepreneurial thinking should become part of training at art and music academies. The party backs federal efforts to provide reliable social protection for self-employed solo artists.