00:019 billion euros of funding for the public broadcasters and what do we get in return?
00:06We get left-wing green propaganda, stupidity and agitation.
00:12Let's terminate the state media treaty, let's ditch this compulsory fee.
00:17It was a big campaign promise of the Alternative for Germany party, the termination of the
00:22so-called Interstate Media Treaty, which governs broadcasting in Germany.
00:26But could the party, whose branch in Saxony-Anhalt is classified by the domestic intelligence
00:31agency as right-wing extremist, actually abolish public broadcasting?
00:37The AFD could take power in Saxony-Anhalt soon, raising the question whether the small German
00:41state could become a test case for the whole country.
00:47I believe that public broadcasting is the easiest target for an AFD government.
00:51It's very apparent that the AFD does not want independent reporting.
00:59The far-right party has prominent role models.
01:02US President Trump recently banned several media outlets that he disliked from entering the
01:07White House.
01:08But pressure on legacy media is also growing in Europe.
01:12In Hungary, the authoritarian government of Viktor Orban has in practice restricted public broadcasting
01:19over many years, and it has legislated to prevent independent information.
01:24Slovakia recently did something similar.
01:26This is our immediate neighbourhood.
01:30Germany's constitution stipulates that public broadcasters belong neither to the state nor
01:35to private companies or individuals.
01:38They manage themselves.
01:39It's one of the lessons learned from Germany's Nazi past, where state propaganda controlled the
01:44flow of information and manipulated public opinion.
01:48To ensure broadcasters can work freely and independently of the authorities, they are financed by a mandatory
01:54public broadcasting fee.
01:56Almost every household in Germany must pay around 18 euros per month for this, regardless of whether
02:02they use, they watch or listen.
02:04Many people disagree with this, and the AFD is instrumentalizing this sentiment.
02:09In Saxony-Anhalt, the party wants to abandon the state media treaty and cut off the local
02:15broadcaster MDR from the funding that it needs.
02:19That would mean that as of January 1st, 2029, MDR would have to cease its operations here in
02:26Saxony-Anhalt. MDR Saxony-Anhalt would simply no longer exist.
02:31I think it could trigger a domino effect as the first brick pulled out of the wall of public broadcasting.
02:37There is also concern at Radio Korax, a community radio station in the city of Halle.
02:42Korax broadcasts 24 hours a day in several languages with some content specifically tailored to refugees.
02:50It's run mostly by volunteers and receives funding from private donors as well as the state and the city.
02:56In its election manifesto, the AFD explicitly threatened to completely cut public funding for Korax.
03:04We're preparing ourselves for life to be made difficult for us and the worst-case scenario is that our funding
03:09will be withdrawn.
03:13The team are trying to prepare for the scenario by appealing for donations,
03:18but they fear it's not just about the money.
03:27We're trying to integrate refugees and displaced people. We also embrace the gender debate here.
03:37These are all things that people now want to try to roll back completely.
03:41To make everything completely different again and to revive values that we regard as outdated.
03:59Even before any potential changes to the media treaty, free and independent reporting has come
04:05increasingly under threat. At AFD events across Germany, right-wing online influencers have
04:10harassed journalists or denied them access. At Radio Korax, it's feared this is a sign of what's to come.
04:16The horror scenario is that Sachsen-Anhalt will simply become a place for right-wing media and content creators.
04:30And that would mean that open left-wing humanistic projects would have to leave the state or would wither away.
04:39Legally, an AFD government would have a duty to ensure the provision of basic information to the public.
04:46But concerns remain that the state of Sachsen-Anhalt could become dominated
04:51by far-right influences and a pressure test for Germany's free and independent media.
