New perspectives are to be discussed at the Munich Media Days until Friday. But the congress is also breaking new ground. This year, the media days will not take place in the trade fair, but in the Isarforum of the Deutsches Museum as a hybrid, after last year only a digital form was possible due to the corona pandemic. Now a bit back to normal. And so Thomas Schmiege, the new President of the Bavarian State Media Authority, will give a speech this afternoon, as will Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder.

Of course, there is also discussion, although little remains of the discourse and the arrogance of earlier elephant rounds. And so Vodafone Germany boss Hannes Ametsreiter speaks about the role of the company as an aggregator, Sky Germany managing director Devesh Raj about the new Sky television, RTL Germany co-CEO Stephan Schäfer about the plans for the “first full- integrated media company ”and BR director Katja Wildermuth on the public’s need for information in times like these.

Moderator Ingo Zamperoni wants to know from Stephan Schäfer whether RTL would also like to bring its own television onto the market. But he waves it off, switched on from his office. No, for this his house should become the “first address for positive entertainment and independent journalism across all genres”, he understands. “Like Sky, we are absolute pioneers with television,” says Schäfer. But Katja Wilderrmuth makes the point: “We,” emphasizes the director with a view to public law, “are not pioneers in quality journalism, but guarantors – and have been for many years.”

However, Wildermuth admits that one should not rest in this position, but at the same time explains that she is not afraid of new competition in the information sector. “All media providers who want to focus on even more quality journalism and who bring us political and social discourses from different perspectives.” This ultimately helps democracy.

A classic at the media days, however, is the debate about regulation – and that too was touched on in the opening discussion, which lasted just over half an hour. Vodafone boss Hannes Ametsreiter said that he completely missed the claim to deliver high quality in the social media. “This is an amplifier, a trampoline for news that is sometimes not socially acceptable.” Therefore, regulation has to deal with this topic. In the course of this, Ametsreiter calls for a discourse on whether companies should use “this special range” at all to place advertising.

However, Ametsreiter does not want to go as far as BR director Katja Wildermuth. “Nobody is in favor of censorship, but we have to reveal the algorithms,” she demands – and advocates strengthening media literacy in society. “We all have a responsibility to one another,” said Wildermuth. As is so often the case with this rather toothless opening, no contradiction was to be expected on this point.