Due to unexplained allegations against editorial managers at Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in Kiel, there are temporary personnel consequences. The director of the Landesfunkhaus Schleswig-Holstein, Volker Thormählen, said in a statement on Wednesday: “Norbert Lorentzen and Julia Stein asked me this afternoon to release them from their previous duties at the Landesfunkhaus Schleswig-Holstein until further notice. I have complied with their wish and thanked them for taking this step.”
Thormählen added: “For the sake of good order, I would like to remind you that the presumption of innocence applies.” Lorentzen is editor-in-chief of the NDR for Schleswig-Holstein, Stein is responsible for political reporting there.
The case revolves around allegations in connection with the political reporting of the public broadcaster ARD. The online medium “Business Insider” and then the star had reported allegations that there could be a kind of filter by the superiors in the editorial office. For example, it was about an interview that an NDR journalist wanted to conduct, but his superiors refused. Lorentzen and the NDR had rejected the allegation of political influence.
The developments were picked up on in the broadcasts of NDR Schleswig-Holstein itself, for example in the broadcast “Schleswig-Holstein 18:00”. Moderator Marie-Luise Bram said that the editors only found out about it through the press reports. “What we were able to read there stunned us.” They even “seriously considered” whether they wanted to send at all.
The stern research was also a topic in the main issue, the “Schleswig-Holstein Magazin”. The beginning of the show was therefore different from the others. The moderators Gabi Lüeße and Henrik Hanses stood outside in front of the Landesfunkhaus, behind them several NDR editors and employees.
Hanses said that the 12.007. The result of the show was “certainly one of the hardest”. Lüeße added to the allegations and research: “As independent journalists, this hits us to the core.”
Like his colleague Bram, Hanses also said that they had considered whether it should be broadcast at all. But you don’t want to “duck away” and “say what’s going on”. “We are all still loyal to NDR and public broadcasting,” said Lüeße.
The independent state broadcasting council of Schleswig-Holstein has initiated an examination. In a letter to the state broadcasting director, NDR employees demanded complete clarification. It’s about the reputation of the station.
According to NDR information, the positions of Lorentzen and Stein will be temporarily taken over by the deputy director and editor-in-chief Bettina Freitag and editor Andreas Schmidt from the “Politics and Research” department.
The allegations against editorial managers of the NDR in Kiel have further personnel consequences on Thursday. The state radio station director Volker Thormählen takes a month’s unpaid leave. NDR director Joachim Knuth announced on Thursday: Thormählen asked him on Wednesday evening “to gain some distance and to ensure, in the spirit of the NDR, that people who are not personally affected can be responsible for the clarification process”.
The director continued: “I thank him for this offer and have accepted it. In the past few days it has become very clear to me that the state broadcasting center in Kiel not only needs to be clarified, but also that things need to be changed.” A process is now being initiated to shape the future in order to establish a “climate of courage” in the future.
Thormählen said on Thursday about his temporary vacation: “With this step I would like to help ensure that the process I initiated can begin with the greatest possible participation of my colleagues and with external help and support, without giving the impression that I could do it influence.” He came to this conviction on Wednesday afternoon after an editorial conference. His deputy Bettina Freitag will take over the business until then.
Note: This article was supplemented by Thormählen’s leave of absence.
