[Mithaldu]

Something i haven't seen mentioned much is that the tv station this show is on, is a public broadcasting station paid for with taxes via the german government. While it turns out there are laws in place that ensure the government cannot influence program, it is fairly easy to understand how Erdogan could take this combination of being mocked by a state tv station wrongly, and get the impression that contacting the ambassador is the right step.

[johannes1234321]

No, the "Rundfunkbeitrag" is no tax and Government isn't involved in collecting this. This is a bit of a juristic nitpicking but they are to some degree independent from government in financing, while the payment is mandatory. Politicians are however members of the supervisory councils (along with church representatives, worker union members and so on)

[mschuster91]

> is a public broadcasting station paid for with taxes via the german government

Not exactly. Germans have to pay the Rundfunkabgabe which directly funds the TV stations, it's not a position in the government's bookkeeping.

[lispm]

I don't think Erdogan cares whether journalists are working for private companies, public stations or government media.

Either they are for him or against him. If they are against him, he is going after them - regardless of who employs them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_freedom_in_Turkey

[elcapitan]

> While it turns out there are laws in place that ensure the government cannot influence program

Well those tv stations are controlled by boards on which members of the ruling political parties are, so the influence thing is kind if ridiculous, but that's the official version, yes.

[kuschku]

There is quite a difference: The station isn’t paid for by taxes from the government, but the station has the right to collect its own taxes, ensuring it can act independently.

[taejo]

Moreover, this right is established by a treaty between the German states, rather than by a law of the federal government.

[elcapitan]

So there's basically a media bureaucracy that can decide how much money it wants to earn, without asking any customers. Awesome!

[kuschku]

But they can not decide their own wages, can not carry profits from one year into the other, and can not hoard excess money.

[hussong]

Side note: as someone who pays that fee, I would never think of myself as a 'customer' of public broadcasting, since it's a public service -- just like I wouldn't think of myself as a 'customer' of hospitals, schools, communal waste disposal, the fire department or law enforcement.

[taejo]

That may be true, but it's irrelevant to my point, which was that the Rundfunkbeitrag is a matter of state (Land) law, and thus even further away from the hands of the federal foreign ministry.