Austrian domestic politics currently revolves around one man: Herbert Kickl, leader of the FPÖ and "People's Chancellor". At least that's what he calls himself now, because he may actually become Austria's next head of government. The polls are in his favor. Kickl is already number one in terms of media presence, and in social media anyway.
Kickl does not arouse enthusiasm, but he gathers the disappointed and indignant, the angry and the fearful around him. He rails against migrants, wants to deport them on a large scale, expel them, the main thing is to get rid of them, that's how it sounds. He wants to liberate Austria from Islamism and Islamists, praises the right-wing extremist "Identitarians" and has no problem being called a right-wing extremist himself. If I am insulted as a right-wing extremist, then I wear this insult like a medal," he said at the weekend at the Freedom New Year's meeting in Styria. However, he sees his party and the liberal supporters in the middle. He recommended that the other parties run as a "Unity Party", run as a "List of Treason for the People" or form part of the "Anti-Austrian United Front". In any case, he himself is "the only normal person in the bunch of systemlings".
Hearty statements
Kickl gives his followers what they expect from him and what they like. With strong words, so that no misunderstandings are possible. Chancellor and ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer is the "dead man walking", SPÖ leader Andreas Babler he calls "blah blah", Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler "numbedded". The stumbled investor René Benko is the "punter and pimp of the whores of the rich". In the beer tent, you pat yourself on the thighs or bang your fist on the table, depending on your mood.
The party behind him, the FPÖ, has long since created its own media, with which it can reach its sympathizers in a targeted manner. When Kickl does give an interview to ORF, he is gentle in voice, reserved in tone, but remains sharp in his statement. Afterwards, all the self-proclaimed experts on social media regularly want to know better how Kickl could have been exposed, how he could have been better interviewed and paraded. This kind of retrospective know-it-all attitude is a national sport in Austria. "Hättiwari" is its own word for it. It describes what could have been if it had been done better (or at all). The inventor of »Hättiwari« is the Austrian Formula 1 driver Gerhard Berger, whose winning streak remained manageable, who would have become world champion if he had only... And so on.
The Evil of "System Media"
Kickl insults not only the established parties, but also the "system media", journalists as spreaders of fake news, those who do not spread the truth, i.e. his truth. So if Kickl actually comes to power, the media in Austria will also face a challenge, not so much in terms of content, because there will be a lot to write and report on, but financially. Kickl will probably take advantage of state media subsidies, give advertisements only to acceptable newspapers and broadcasters, and thus cut away at an important economic pillar of the Austrian press.
State control of the media
In this context, it is necessary to refer once again to the role of the Greens, who want to oppose Kickl with a "coalition of the sensible". Green Party leader Werner Kogler is already warning against restricting media freedom. It is therefore all the more surprising that the Greens, together with the ÖVP, had introduced a law that would allow the education and training of female journalists to be controlled by the state. This is a joke in terms of democratic policy. "In the future, the Chancellor could simply order the company under his authority to learn what aspiring journalists would have to learn," said Andreas Koller, president of the Concordia Press Club. He added: "This autocratic approach is completely unacceptable for a democracy."
A possible next Federal Chancellor, Herbert Kickl, has thus been given a wonderful set of instruments for media control. A blue chancellor will be happy to give the editors a helping hand and tell them how to see the truth.
In the current podcast episode of »Inside Austria«, we ask the question of what the FPÖ has in common with other parties in Europe. And what divides them. We take a look at what common goals they are pursuing. And how they intend to achieve it.
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Thank you very much for your attention and best regards from Vienna
Yours sincerely, Michael Völker, Der STANDARD
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