Street survey: blatant injustice at GEZ broadcasters

02.09.2024 | www.kla.tv/30324

There is a huge amount of unrest in public broadcasting. In spring 2024, over 100 employees of ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio complained in a manifesto that there is practically no freedom of expression there and that any contrary opinion is stifled. A scandal! But more and more citizens are also dissatisfied, and in surveys the public broadcasters are increasingly being punished. Who is surprised when these broadcasters, financed by compulsory fees, represent a uniform opinion in every crisis, lecture the people one-sidedly and stifle dissenting voices or defame those who think differently? It has also long been incomprehensible why these compulsory fee media cannot get by with around 8.6 billion euros annually and are demanding more and more money. Germany already has the most expensive public broadcasting system in the world. Billions are flowing into questionable channels. Horrendous sums are being spent on unnecessarily expensive luxury furniture just to renovate a WDR film house in Cologne. The costs of the renovation rose from 130 to 240 million euros. Almost 10% of the ARD broadcasting fees went into "company pensions". In figures: 564 million euros just for old-age pensions and retirement benefits for its former employees in one year. The ZDF is said to have set aside 5.8 million euros for the pension of the former ZDF director Thomas Bellut alone. He receives more than 30,000 euros a month in retirement. Where is the proportionality when a presenter like Markus Lanz goes home with an annual salary of around 1.9 million euros, while a pensioner has to get by on an average of 16,440 euros a year? Why does a questionable clown like Oliver Welke receive around 1.2 million euros a year, while a hard-working cashier only gets 32,500 euros? We are curious to hear what ordinary people on the street have to say about these conditions. [Passerby:] No, I didn't know he earned that much. Well, okay... [Passerby:] I don't normally think that's fair, no. [Kla.TV:] 1.9 million per year financed from GEZ fees, which every citizen has to pay, even in Germany... [Passerby:] Well, I'm rarely left speechless, but that's huge. [Passerby:] I think if he didn't have the success, he would be taken off the air immediately and then he'd be out of the picture. So he's certainly doing a lot to earn that much. [Kla.TV:] ... is paid for through public service fees, i.e. GEZ fees, which everyone has to pay, every citizen in Germany. Do you think that's fair? [Passerby:] No, absolutely not. [Passerby:] Dissatisfaction is growing. [Kla.TV:] Is that still proportionate? Is that still fair? [Passerby:] Well, I don't think so. But it's also because I'm a person for justice and this whole issue of seven-figure CEO salaries is not something that should exist. [Passerby:] 6,000, 7,000 euros? Net... [Kla.TV:] The man gets almost 1.2 million a year. [Passerby:] That much?! [Passerby:] ... 45 ... 50? [Kla.TV:] Yes, just under 1.2 million would be the answer. [Passerby:] He gets 1.2 million?! [Kla.TV:] Yes. Then we have Markus Lanz, for example. He tops the whole thing at 1.9 million. [Passerby:] Absurd! [Passerby:]: I don't earn much. I'm a pensioner, but I still have to pay for everything. [Kla.TV:] A pensioner earns on average around 16,000 a year, roughly, for the whole year. [Passerby:] A little less. [Kla.TV:] A little less, yes. And now just look again at the 16,000 to the 1.2 million - is that fair in your opinion? [Passerby:] Oh, that's too much money! You can distribute a little of it to other people or where the burden is great, people are suffering a lot... Many people had no work because of the Corona period, difficulties... And he can give a little something away to the others or earn a little less... Yes, but it's unfair. [Kla.TV:] Thank you. Thank you for your time. [Passerby:] Well, he is a very well-known person, and it is common for well-known people to earn significantly more, like footballers, actors and the like. But of course it is quite clear that it is financed by us, with the 1.9 million you could do much better projects to train people or do other projects. That is why I think it is too arrogant, in other words, what he earns is simply too much. I mean, even with 900,000 he would be able to get by well and it is still a decent salary. [Passerby:] Yes, you always ask yourself where the justice is, where the fairness is... [Kla.TV:] Yes, that is public money, that is fees too... [Passerby:] Yes, our money. Our money... huge... really frightening... So that you can get so rich with it... almost two million a year. That is frightening, I think. [Passerby:] I think it is absolutely not fair that everyone pays GEZ these days. I haveFor example, I don't have a TV at home at the moment, but I don't think that counts at the moment because the legislation has somehow changed here in Germany. Everyone has to pay, whether they have a TV or not. [Passerby:] The news these days is very, very negative. Sometimes you switch on at eight in the evening, or during the European Championship break at half-time, and it's just Israel, it's Syria, it's the Ukraine war, it's the USA situation and you think to yourself: dude, is that all the news we have? It can't be serious. [Passerby:] Opinions that aren't so mainstream, they are supported by photos that are very unflattering, and then they are presented to the people who then express them. I don't agree with their opinion at all, but I just think that different opinions have to be presented. For example, we have the AfD, which wasn't on the talk shows at all at the beginning. Then they were invited to the talk shows. As long as we allow them in parliament, we should broadcast all opinions publicly - just as they are expressed, without polishing or changing them in any way - and everyone should be able to form their own opinion. I believe that we citizens are not so uneducated that we need to have it spoon-fed to us. We don't have to be afraid. Everyone does it themselves and then we'll get to the right path. Anything else is paternalism, regardless of whether it comes from the far left or the green, or from the right or the far right. Dear viewers, Germany not only has the most expensive public broadcasting system on the planet, as the Handelsblatt reported. We also use the ever-increasing compulsory contributions to finance excessive salaries and retirement payments. We pay for questionable channels and unnecessary luxury expenses. But worst of all: we pay for absolutely one-sided, manipulative and uniform reporting that creates a deep division in society and prevents any open discourse. Kla.TV has documented the intolerable conditions in the “compulsory levy media” for you in more than detail, and we strongly recommend the program: “Compulsory levy media: a weapon of war / 40 reasons why I no longer pay (by Ivo Sasek)”.

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Sources/Links: Mehr als 560 Mio. Euro pro Jahr für ARD-Renten: https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/politik-inland/rundfunkgebuehren-mehr-als-560-mio-euro-pro-jahr-fuer-die-renten-in-der-ard-83083448.bild.html#fromWall
Wofür ARD und ZDF Gebühren-Milliarden verprassen: https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/it-medien/die-sendung-mit-den-maeusen-wofuer-ard-und-zdf-gebuehren-milliarden-verprassen/4652630.html
Ex-Intendanten erhalten höhere Pensionen als Angela Merkel: https://www.meedia.de/news/beitrag/12458-ex-intendanten-erhalten-hoehere-pensionen-als-angela-merkel.html
Redakteursausschüsse widersprechen „Manifest“ der Kritiker: https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/redakteursausschuesse-widersprechen-manifest-der-kritiker-100.html
Manifest für einen neuen öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunk in Deutschland: https://meinungsvielfalt.jetzt/manifest.html
So viel Geld verdienen deutsche Moderatoren - Von Giovanni Zarrella bis Markus Lanz!: https://www.prisma.de/news/stars/So-viel-Geld-verdienen-ZDF-Moderatoren-Die-Gehaelter-der-Stars,48162674
Rekord: 8,6 Milliarden Euro fließen in die Kassen der Öffentlich-Rechtlichen: https://www.heise.de/news/Neuer-Rekord-Einnahmen-aus-Rundfunkbeitraegen-auf-8-57-Milliarden-Euro-gestiegen-9186536.html
Wegen WDR-Luxusprojekt tobt Rundfunkrat: „Schlag ins Gesicht der Gebührenzahler“: https://www.focus.de/kultur/kino_tv/240-millionen-euro-teuer-wdr-luxusprojekt-in-koeln-schlag-ins-gesicht-der-gebuehrenzahler_id_260179546.html
ZDF-Mann Markus Lanz verdient 1,9 Millionen Euro – das bekommen Horst Lichter, Jan Böhmermann und Co.: https://www.merkur.de/tv/euro-das-bekommen-horst-lichter-jan-boehmermann-zdf-mann-markus-lanz-verdient-millionen-zr-92800450.html#:~:text=Denn%20die%20%E2%80%9EWelt%20am%20Sonntag,j%C3%A4hrlich%20durch%20seine%20Sendung%20verdienen.
Ticket: SE-1360