Transparency: How does quality assurance work?

Media Quality: Many claim it, few substantiate it. The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation has a quality assurance system that has been repeatedly praised by experts as a "benchmark for Europe." It is extensively described here. The fundamental decisions of the ORF supervisory bodies, as well as annually developed studies, program structure analyses, and quality profiles, are published on zukunft.ORF.at. Documents have been available since 2011. ORF Media Research and ORF-Public Value are responsible for individual components of the quality assurance system.

However, transparency extends far beyond the quality assurance system. The ORF is audited by the Court of Auditors, the Parliament, and its own commission; it publishes the so-called transparency report, corporate and annual financial statements, annual reports, equality reports, reports on the accessibility of its programs, and much more, making them easily accessible. Publications according to the ORF law can be found here.

Independent of these publications, ORF publishes information about its programs currently via OTS and maintains a highly demanded customer service with ORF Kontakt, recording over a million inquiries per year.

Finally, the meetings of the Public Council at ORF are public.


Transparency as a Public Value Category

The "Transparency" category documents ORF's performance in public relations and communication with the audience. The category is based, among other things, on the following passages from ORF regulations:

ORF Law

§ 7. (1) The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation must prepare a report for the Federal Chancellor and the regulatory authority on the fulfillment of the mandates in the previous calendar year.

§ 4a. (7) The quality assurance system, as well as the studies and participant surveys created for it, and the relevant resolutions of the Foundation Council and the Audience Council, must be easily, immediately, and continuously accessible on the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation's website.


ORF Ethics Code

The emergence of potential conflicts of interest can never be completely prevented; therefore, transparency and appropriate measures should avoid doubts about independence. The higher the respective management level or external exposure, the stricter the assessment criteria must be applied.


ORF Code of Conduct

Editorial collaborations with companies, institutions, etc., must be clearly labeled. Events where ORF is a media partner receive no preferential treatment in reporting. They are also critically examined according to usual journalistic rules. Even for charitable purposes (campaigns), journalistic criteria, journalistic self-responsibility, etc., must not be disregarded. Material provided by companies, institutions, etc., may only be used if it does not influence editorial decisions in any way. Any violations must be pursued according to ORF law.


Figures & Data

Below are exemplary figures documenting the fulfillment of the public service mandate and the associated media quality.(Figures & Data only available in german.) Further information can be found in ORF's annual report to the Federal Chancellor and regulatory authority, the transparency report, the business and sustainability report, as well as the reports on equality (ORF Public Value - DOCUMENTS), the action plan for accessibility, or ORF's annual and consolidated financial statements.


Exemplary Figures

ORF Kontakt

Publikumskontakte

Fragen und Feedback vom Publikum zu den TV-Angeboten - Top 10

Qualitätssicherung im ORF

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