PdF on culture and media

The PdF wants to support independent artists and small initiatives with dedicated programs and build cultural centers in rural areas. An independent body would decide on grants, and cultural institutions would receive stable basic state funding.

The PdF wants to give money to artists and small culture groups. Rural areas should get new culture centers. An independent board should hand out the grant money. Culture institutions should get steady money from the state.

The program calls for funding programs that free artists and small initiatives from commercial pressure. Regional cultural centers are to be set up in rural areas, offering events and space for exchange. Grant decisions would be made by a body that is tied to neither political nor business interests. Cultural institutions would get basic funding that does not depend on commercial success. The program justifies this with culture's role in identity, social cohesion and preserving cultural heritage.

The PdF wants to make public broadcasting more efficient, cut duplicate structures and focus its mandate on education, information and culture. The broadcasting fee would stay, while executive pay would be capped.

The PdF wants public broadcasters to be smaller and cheaper. They should focus on education, news and culture. The party wants to keep the broadcasting fee. Top managers should earn less. There should be upper limits on their pay.

Duplicate structures among the broadcasters are to be reviewed and reduced in order to lower costs and the burden on fee payers. The mandate would be defined more clearly and limited to core tasks. The PdF keeps the Rundfunkbeitrag (broadcasting fee) because, in its view, abolishing it could lead to commercialization and endanger independent reporting. Pay for directors and executives would be aligned with the public sector and limited by caps. The program notes that some directors earn more than the Chancellor.

The PdF wants to reduce or end the influence of political parties on appointments to broadcasting councils. Elected independent experts and civil society representatives would take their place to safeguard the broadcasters' neutrality.

Broadcasting councils oversee the public broadcasters. Today, politicians also sit on them. The PdF wants to change that. Independent experts and citizen representatives should be elected instead. This should keep the broadcasters neutral.

Under the program, independent experts and civil society representatives would be elected to the broadcasting councils by a grassroots vote. Members may not hold political offices or functions that could compromise their neutrality. The duty of balanced reporting is to be strengthened. Codes on independence and rules against conflicts of interest would be added. The PdF justifies this with the criticism that political representatives on the councils could call the broadcasters' independence into question.