An ORF presenter announces games of chance. The debate on additional income in the ÖRR is overdue, because this is not an isolated case.

Proud presenter: Marcus Wadsak in the Lotto studio Photo: Günther Pichlkostner/ORF

VIENNA taz | “Supported by product placement,” reads the tiny note that appears for three seconds at the end of the broadcast. The draw of the lottery numbers program produced by the ORF is a unique product placement: “6 out of 45 – Lotto Plus and Joker”, which is broadcast periodically before the wide-ranging regional news on the Austrian ORF.

Normally the moderation duo is fixed. Last Friday the program was moderated by Marcus Wadsak. Wadsak has worked at the ORF since 1995, has headed the meteorological service for 12 years and is known throughout Austria. His biggest weather report, the night after the news, reaches more than a million people. He has also written a bestseller on climate change.

Some of the country's most important newspapers now uncritically reported on the drawing with his image. Wadsak himself promoted it on his social media channels. Why does an established ORF employee indulge in gambling advertising? He didn't want to answer that to the taz.

All this raises questions. Last but not least, what does the game have to do with public broadcasting (ÖRR). But above all: what secondary employment is allowed for ORF employees? There were always problems in this regard and limits were exceeded.

Lack of transparency

In November 2022, for example, ORF journalist Claudia Reiterer took a tour of an event organized by the Chamber of Commerce. Reiterer moderates week after week “Im Zentrum”, the ORF's most important political debate program. Representatives of the Chamber of Commerce often sit there, whom Reiterer must then interview.

Last November, ORF presenter Nadja Bernhard moderated the Interpol World Congress in Vienna. Several times a week she appears on “Zeit im Bild”, Austria's most important news program. This program also reported on the Interpol Congress. That doesn't give a good image either.

Experts such as Heinz Lederer, consultant and former head of communications at SPÖ, have long criticized the lack of transparency. It is not for nothing that particularly strict rules apply to public broadcasting, which is financed by the general public and has an educational mission. ORF is also, by far, the media company with the highest sales and reach in the country.

more transparency

After former ORF regional director Robert Ziegler became noted for his special proximity to the ruling ÖVP, the Chamber tightened its internal regulations at the beginning of 2023. From now on, secondary activities will be “examined in a particularly restrictive manner “, he claimed. But only internally: it is not clear under what regulations they are reported and disclosed. There is a lack of transparency to the outside world and secondary activities have not yet been published, as is mandatory for parliamentarians.

In the future things will be different, because the ORF is legally obliged to be more transparent since the beginning of the year. Although with restrictions: in the future only part-time jobs of employees with an annual salary greater than 170,000 euros should be listed by name. Even with the rumored average salary of around 90,000 euros in the ORF, this does not affect many people.

Voluntary transparency is still unlikely, also because the ORF is likely to make good profits from it. He markets to his employees through his agency “ORF Stars.” Lectures by ORF meteorology expert Marcus Wadsak can be booked there. Nadja Bernhard, who worked for Interpol, is also listed there, as are many other prominent presenters, correspondents and journalists. To what extent can critical distance be maintained if journalists can be signed using a form?

“We would at least need transparency,” says Austrian economist Leonhard Dobusch. He is part of the ZDF television board and also knows the subject from Germany. At least in the Wadsak case he sees no conflict of interest. It would be worse if Wadsak, who writes books on climate protection, accepted orders from an oil company. But the fundamental problem is big. “As far as legally possible, a ban on secondary employment for certain positions or areas of activity in public broadcasting should also be discussed,” says Dobusch. Precisely because there can always be conflicts of interest given the variety of topics to be reported on.

The game would be legitimized

“The other question is why the ORF broadcasts the lottery drawings,” Dobusch said. In addition to the usual raffles, content on games of chance also regularly appears in editorial reports. The ORF website, Austria's largest news site, regularly reports current lottery numbers. A “record profit” of 72.1 million even appeared on the Internet as “breaking news.”

ORF owns an 18.75 percent stake in Lotto-Toto-Holding, which in turn owns the Austrian Lotteries. According to the newspaper, the small part of ORF is delivery courier estimated at more than 100 million euros. In the crisis year of 2001 alone, at least 4.5 million went to the ORF. Additionally, lotteries announce a “double-digit million amount” in ORF each year.

Christoph Holubar, president of the Players' Aid Association, criticizes this practice: “The lottery broadcasts shortly before the main news that legitimizes the game. It is a problem that a prominent figure like Wadsak allows himself this.” According to him, gambling has no place in the ORF. There are no official surveys, but Holubar estimates that at least 400,000 Austrians are addicted to gambling.

The ORF did not respond to a question about gambling and part-time employment. A statement simply said that Wadsak did not receive lottery money for his appearance. Like his employer, Wadsak doesn't seem to see any problems. He left Einetaz's request unanswered, but was happy on Friday on platform X: “What do you have to do to become the main story of oe24? Draw the lottery numbers today.”