Competence: Who Can Be Relied on During a Crisis?

60% do not feel prepared for a blackout. The ORF has reported on the topic over 100 times by 2025: about blackout exercises conducted by power plant staff and individual federal states, about crisis preparedness in various communities, or about blackouts around the world such as in the Australian Parliament or the last major European blackout on the Iberian Peninsula at the end of April 2025. ORF is Austria's number one source of information in case of crisis and disaster—and meticulously prepares for it, whether through exercises, its own power supply or crisis plans.

In a crisis situation, the competence of ORF employees is particularly challenged, and conversely, they are also the most trusted: As part of the Ö3 Jugendstudie, over 80% of participants stated that they would trust news from public broadcasters in times of crisis or war, 65% trust newspapers, 53% commercial electronic media, and only 27% trust social media.



The survey on opinions related to disaster topics also shows a clear picture with strong approval, for example, for the support of public service media in disaster situations, among other things.



The desire for independence also plays a role, as 89% want media that are independent of large corporations.



People want to rely on Austrian Broadcasting and its employees. It is therefore logical that ORF invests more in training and development than other media (data below); an investment that may also be attributed to the numerous awards and recognitions that ORF employees receive each year.


Competence as a Public Value Category

The category "Competence" highlights ORF's performance in areas such as personnel development and employee training. The category is based on passages from ORF regORF regulationsulations:

ORF Law

§ 4a. (1) The Director-General shall establish a quality assurance system that defines criteria and procedures to ensure the fulfillment of the public service core mandate, with particular consideration of the independence and self-responsibility of all program-designing employees, the freedom of journalistic practice, and the independence and self-responsibility of directors and regional directors.
§ 4. (8) The Director-General shall, in agreement with the editorial committee, create a code of conduct for journalistic activity in the design of content offerings.


ORF Program Guidelines

No program genre is exempt from offering demanding content. The demand is derived not only from the selection of topics and materials reported on but also from the way they are implemented programmatically. This criterion can be met through special creative, journalistic, or artistic quality that encourages critical engagement


ORF Quality Profile

In implementation, a high level of craftsmanship in terms of text, sound, camera work, direction, editing, etc., is to be aimed for. Especially in television, the suggestive power of the visual recording of the extraordinary can be so strong that the general dimension of the event is largely lost to the viewer. This distortion effect should be counteracted through presentation and text, as far as it cannot be completely eliminated. When examining and selecting topics to be addressed and the manner of their communication, comprehensibility should be considered


ORF Mission Statement

ORF is a future-oriented media company whose employees design the service offering with commitment, competence, and creativity.


Figures & Data

Below you will find exemplary numbers documenting the fulfillment of the public service mandate and the associated media quality. Further information can be found in the ORF's annual report to the Federal Chancellor and regulatory authority, the transparency report, the business and sustainability report, and the reports on equality (ORF Public Value - DOCUMENTS), the action plan on accessibility, or the ORF's annual and consolidated financial statements.


Exemplary Figures

Schulungen im ORF

ORF Expert:innendatenbank

Ausgezeichnet 2025 - eine Auswahl

Download as PDF