Federal government is looking for six new ORF foundation board members by May 5th!

Federal government is looking for six new ORF foundation board members by May 5th!

The Austrian federal government is looking for six new members for the ORF Foundation Board by May 5, 2025. Interested applicants can contact the Ministry of Media by email by 6 p.m. Loud oe24 The amendment to the ORF law includes some significant changes to the selection process and the requirements for candidates. Applicants now have to prove that they have specialist knowledge in media economics, business administration, communication, media law or controlling.

A central concern of the new regulation is to take into account a balanced gender ratio among the newly elected board of trustees. It is also necessary that applicants cannot demonstrate any incompatibilities, for example due to existing employment at ORF.

Reform of the ORF Foundation Board

The reform of the ORF committee process recently passed the Council of Ministers and is expected to be decided on by the National Council. Since the number of members of the board of trustees sent by the federal government will be reduced from nine to six, the committees should become more independent orf.at reported.

At the same time, the ORF Audience Council will be increased to nine members, half of whom will be appointed by the federal government and the other half through a three-member nomination system from representative organizations. This new regulation follows an important ruling by the Constitutional Court, which found that the government had excessive weight in the appointment of the ORF committees.

Financing and outlook

Another point of the amendment concerns the freezing of the ORF contribution to 15.30 euros per household per month until 2029. Media Minister Andreas Babler (SPÖ) emphasizes that this will make the ORF more independent and the audience will gain more influence. Overall, a comprehensive reform of the ORF is being planned in order to make its structures leaner, more digital and more transparent orf.at emerges.

The planned committee reform is viewed differently by different political parties. While State Secretary Michaela Schmidt (SPÖ) describes the reform as a first step towards greater independence for the ORF, the FPÖ criticizes it as a “free pass” for a continuation of the status quo. Sigrid Maurer, media spokeswoman for the Green Party, even describes the measures as a “minimal compromise without real reforms”.

In order to ensure future efficiency and sustainability, projects such as reducing the government's advertising volume by ten percent and new funding for newspaper delivery and quality journalism are also planned. ORF boss Roland Weißmann has already identified a need for savings of around 220 million euros in order to overcome the challenges of the coming years.