Taxpayer Outrage as ORF Director Ingrid Thurnher Approves €449,000 in Consulting Costs
Austria’s public broadcaster ORF is facing fresh controversy after new Director General إنغريد تورنهر approved consulting contracts worth €449,000 in just over one month, sparking criticism over spending and management priorities.
Since taking office, تورنهر has come under growing pressure after presenting a detailed breakdown of external consulting expenses to the ORF Board of Trustees. The figures, covering the period from March 13 to April 23, revealed that nearly half a million euros had been spent on outside consultants despite ORF already having internal departments for many of these tasks.
According to the report, the newly established transparency advisory board alone cost ORF €280,000. Another €100,000 was spent on external lawyers brought in alongside the broadcaster’s own legal department. The internal reporting center called “Pink Elephant,” designed for reporting grievances and workplace concerns, added another €43,000 in costs.
In addition, external communications consultants were hired for €26,000, even though ORF already operates its own communications department. These expenses have intensified criticism of management decisions at a time when the broadcaster is already dealing with internal political struggles and leadership instability.
FPÖ foundation board member بيتر فيستنتالر strongly criticized the spending, calling it a disastrous start for the new director. He said that in only a few weeks, تورنهر had thrown away almost half a million euros of taxpayers’ money on extremely expensive and ineffective consultants. He also questioned which budget these funds came from, suggesting that such costs were likely never planned in advance.
Further controversy has emerged over the size of تورنهر’s office staff. Her office now reportedly employs nine people, making it one of the largest Director General offices in ORF history. She retained six employees from former Director General رولاند فايسمان and brought three additional staff members from the radio directorate, adding to internal criticism over expanding bureaucracy.