New allegations against Hamburger Funkhaus boss Rossbach

After revelations about the political influence of senior editors in the broadcasting center in Schleswig-Holstein, the NDR affair spread to Hamburg, according to "Business Insider". The focus is on the director of the NDR radio station in Hamburg, Sabine Rossbach. As the owner of a PR agency, her older daughter was able to place her customers in NDR programs for years, and the younger daughter was given a coveted permanent position at the station, according to a report by Business Insider on Saturday.

Regarding the allegations, the NDR responded to the epd request that the job was properly given to Rossbach's younger daughter. Reporting on events by the PR agency “Hesse

Anna Hesse, the elder daughter of the Hamburger Funkhaus boss, is the owner of the PR agency “Hesse

According to Business Insider, well-known NDR journalists claim that they were personally "encouraged" by Rossbach to attend VIP events and public occasions for clients of the agency "Hesse

An NDR spokeswoman, on the other hand, says: "The responsible editorial team decides whether a topic is included in the reporting of the Hamburg State Broadcasting Corporation," the report said. The examples are topics of general interest, which have also been picked up by other local media. Rossbach is not only head of the NDR radio station in Hamburg, but also head of television and is therefore in charge of the said editorial team, according to "Business Insider". This also allows them to decide on the reporting.

In a statement to the allegations, the PR agency emphasizes that the NDR "in no way" occupies a special position. Many other well-known media reported at the same time on every single customer topic reported on by NDR. The accusation that the agency had benefited from a family connection "is not true," it said.

The Business Insider report also states that Rossbach's second daughter was given a particularly coveted and rare permanent position at NDR Kultur a few years ago. Several NDR employees reported that there was another more qualified applicant for the vacant position at the time. According to the report, the then program director of NDR-Kultur, Barbara Mirow and Rossbach are "very well connected".

On the other hand, an NDR spokeswoman emphasizes that the position was made "according to the usual NDR approval procedures, involving the HR department, the staff council and the equal opportunities officer".

In return, Rossbach is said to have placed orders with the daughter of the head of culture, according to the report. Mirow's daughter runs a Hamburg production company that produced a series about "Dogs in Hamburg" for NDR. NDR employees report that Rossbach is said to have personally commissioned the series from the daughter of the then head of culture.

On October 8, 2019, a post was published that caused criticism both internally and among viewers. In it, a seer claimed for around 100 euros that she could bring people into contact with their deceased dogs. The NDR police reporter is said to have raged internally that he was writing his fingers sore on police stories that warned of such thimble players, according to the insider report.

After complaints from the station's employees and NDR viewers, the editorial committee was called in 2019 to broadcast the series "Dogs in Hamburg". In it, Rossbach confirmed that she personally accepted the entire dog series. She also explicitly ordered posts that show “what bizarre things there are about dogs in Hamburg”.

According to the report, she does not accept any criticism of the contribution in the editorial committee, not even the controversial episode with the seer. After examining and hearing Rossbach, the committee let the case go, confirms the NDR.

As early as mid-August, Rossbach was accused of "nepotism" because the external music consultant from NDR 1 Lower Saxony was in a relationship with the head of the Hamburg radio station. The NDR had rejected the allegations of nepotism in this context. Since 2018, the music consultant Dieter Petereit has been supporting the rejuvenation of the music program of NDR 1 Lower Saxony. When the broadcaster decided on Petereit, it was known that he was Sabine Rossbach's partner, according to the NDR.

According to NDR, the personal relationship between Petereit and Rossbach has gone through a close-knit compliance process. The commitment of the consultant Petereit was checked and approved by the head of radio and the then state broadcasting director, it said.