Linke on culture and media

The Left wants to establish culture as a mandatory task in state policy and create a culture funding law. The program justifies this by saying cultural work has often depended on uncertain budgets and short-term decisions.

The Left wants a law for funding culture. Culture should be a fixed task of the state. The money should be secure for several years. This helps theaters and clubs plan better.

The law is to contain clear and transparent principles for funding. Multi-year funding structures are to replace short-term project funding. Municipalities are to receive help in securing local cultural offerings. Funding procedures are to become simpler, and better advice is to be offered.

The Left wants to require binding minimum and base fees for publicly funded projects. According to the program, cultural workers often work under precarious conditions, and artistic freedom depends on material security.

The Left wants to pay artists better. Projects with public money should have a minimum fee. Time for preparation should also be paid. Artists should have better social protection.

Pay is to cover preparation and follow-up time as well. There are to be binding fees for exhibitions. Social protection, including through the Künstlersozialkasse (artists' social insurance fund), is to be strengthened. The cultural and creative industries are to receive lasting support, and artistic freedom is to be protected from political influence and censorship.

The Left wants to keep cultural venues from being displaced and create protected status for them in building law. At the same time, barriers to accessing culture are to come down so that everyone can take part, regardless of income, origin or place of residence.

The Left wants to protect places for culture. Theaters, clubs and centers should not be pushed out. Everyone should be able to enjoy culture. For this, obstacles should go, such as high prices or steps.

Cultural infrastructure is to be preserved and expanded statewide; vacant and public buildings are to be made usable for culture. Independent and self-managed venues as well as socio-cultural and subcultural offerings are to receive funding on equal terms. Cultural education is to gain weight in daycare, school and adult education. Funding structures are to be inclusive and give targeted support to underrepresented groups. The Left also wants to strengthen film, media art, heritage protection and remembrance culture and link heritage conservation more closely with climate protection.

The Left wants to expand media education in schools, outside of school and for adults. The program points to growing disinformation, manipulated content and hate messages, especially on social media.

The Left wants everyone to handle media better. Children and adults should learn this. Teachers should get training for it. The state's media authority should get more money.

The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern media authority is to get more money by lowering or gradually ending the so-called advance deduction from broadcasting fee revenue. Teachers and educators are to receive further training. Curricula and training programs are to include media education as a mandatory part. At the federal level, the Left wants to push for tech companies to be liable and meet due-diligence duties, especially in protecting children and young people, to disclose their algorithms and to be taxed fairly.