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Stefan Müller Quality Assurance at ZDF Quality has many perspectives. In the case of a public broadcaster, one perspective is that of the client, i.e. the democratically elected state parliaments, which formulate social demands as a framework for the program to be produced. On the other hand, there is that of the broadcaster and, in the true sense of the word, its journalists, editors and producers, who follow their professional demands. Then there are those of the users, who in turn evaluate the program offered according to their personal expectations. And finally, that of the current, rapidly changing market, which sets its own standards for production value, addressing target groups and dramaturgy on the various playout platforms.

Quality assurance is therefore complex and can succeed today only if it is conceived in multiple perspectives, if it remains open to adjustments, and if it nevertheless manages to operate with a uniform, comprehensible and recognized set of instruments and clear goals. At ZDF, the ZDF COMPASS was developed as a central management tool for this purpose, incorporating the dimensions of use, quality, impact and acceptance. I would like to outline some aspects of this in the following. Society formulates an essential quality criterion in the form of the mission assigned to public broadcasting. In Germany, for example, ZDF is supposed to provide all citizens with an offer that informs, educates, advises, entertains in an appropriate manner and conveys culture to them. The fulfillment of this mission constitutes a specific public service quality in contrast to the market-driven media offerings of private companies.

Whether the implementation in the program succeeds, however, is subject to the judgment of the viewers to a considerable extent. Mission fulfillment that is not recognized comes to nothing. An effect that is achieved among users as personal added value must be verified by surveys and studies, and the results must be fed back into the editorial work. Credibility is the sine qua non of public broadcasting. It is the basis for its role in democracy, not only to inform people about all important events and developments, but to do so independently of the political leadership and other powerful people in the country. The professional ethics of our journalists should not be taken for granted in the reception of this. Criticism from small but vocal segments of the population and some media outlets that exploit this to their advantage is audible. That's why it's important to make journalistic quality and reliability more visible through maximum transparency, communication and education, and to continually rebuild and maintain trust in dialogue with viewers. The ÖRR cannot enforce media competence in the population, but it can be a partner for social educational institutions in their efforts to increase it.

Another overarching quality feature is, for example, the strengthening of community in democracy. The program is intended to create empathy and understanding among citizens for their fellow human beings and to contribute to togetherness. Whether this succeeds can be deduced from surveys on whether the diversity of opinions and the diversity of lifeworlds is reflected in the program; and by evaluations on whether social diversity is also reflected in the people who produce the program. Maximum accessibility to programming through accessibility is part of this, as is the rooting of public broadcasters in society through cooperation with other civil society institutions and dialogue with its users. To this end, ZDF is establishing a national audience panel that will enable regular and spontaneous exchanges between program makers and the public. A necessary and increasingly important feature in the organization of public service work is a culture of error. The rapid development and adaptation times of the digital age make this essential. Through permanent (re)steering, program work can be adapted to market standards, innovations and user habits and expectations. Here, automated measurement systems as well as target agreements and reviews in the editorial offices can help to establish regular course corrections among the program makers and those responsible, and to view these not as a failure, but as a control instrument that increases quality.

A review system of this kind, integrating all playout channels and quality criteria at the format level, is also currently being developed at ZDF. Quality already begins in the development of new formats. Here at ZDF, we have established the possibility for editorial staff to enter into dialog with the respective target group at an early stage. The content expectations of potential users and the dramaturgical and formal conception of a format, including possible program titles, can thus be tested and adapted at an early stage. At ZDF, for example, the new development of the Mediathek-First documentary series "Die Spur" was accompanied by an elaborate dialog format between editors and people from the target group, and the new formats on the ZDFkultur YouTube channel "Unbubble" were tested and evaluated online by users at various stages of development.
Quality can only develop effectively if it is found and used. Reaching as many people in the population as possible is necessary for this. This can only succeed if a suitable offer is made to all groups. This includes comprehensibly conveyed information in news and documentaries for all age groups, but also entertaining genres and formats that are particularly suited to conveying valuable content. The treatment of important social developments as feature films or series, such as the topic of the environment in the eco-thriller series "Der Schwarm," and investigation combined with satire and show in "ZDF Magazin Royale" are examples from the ZDF program. An expansion of genre diversity in the area of fiction and factual entertainment should also be mentioned in this context.
The media world with its complex diversity of offerings, distribution and use, combined with the specific social mandate, requires a complex response on the part of the ÖRR in the form of an evaluation and control system for quality assurance. Looking at the market is no longer sufficient; the viewers and their evaluation of the ÖRR are moving to the center of attention. The challenge is to apply the appropriate instruments depending on the company, channel or format objective and to combine them in a communicating system for overall control.