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Couldn't convince the RBB committee: Katrin Vernau
Photograph:
Fabian Sommer / dpa
RBB interim boss Katrin Vernau was subsequently no longer in the running for the election of the director. A motion by a member to admit the 50-year-old to the election was rejected by a majority in the Broadcasting Council meeting on Thursday evening, as the head of the Broadcasting Council, Oliver Bürgel, announced.
The election of the director of the public broadcaster ARD is on 16 June. With the failed application, there are now three female and one male candidates. Unlike them, Vernau had not applied, the application deadline expired at the end of April. At the same time, she had indicated in interviews and public statements that she would continue to do the job.
The election of the artistic director has become necessary because RBB plunged into a deep crisis in the summer of 2022. Accusations of nepotism and waste had arisen against the then director Patricia Schlesinger and the station's chief supervisor Wolf-Dieter Wolf. Schlesinger was summarily dismissed. Both denied the allegations. The Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating, as long as the presumption of innocence applies.
In the fall, in the midst of the crisis, WDR manager Vernau came and took over the crisis-ridden station for an interim period. Since then, the house has been working on dealing with the scandal and is facing an austerity program worth millions.
atb/dpa