David vs. Golliath: iGlobenews honored as Runner-Up for 2026 Dr. Karl Renner Journalism Prize, while ORF takes first place (again)

Diana Mautner Markhof
10 June 2026

On 8 June 2026, the Austrian Journalist Club (ÖJC – Österreichischer Journalisten Club) presented the Dr. Karl Renner Journalism Prize in Vienna’s City Hall. iGlobenews was awarded second place for its innovative non-mainstream, online global news coverage. iGlobenews is honored to have been this year’s runner-up for Austria’s top journalism prize – the 2026 Dr. Karl Renner Publizistik Preis – and thanks the ÖJC for this honor.

In addition to iGlobnews’ content, the jury was especially impressed by the many experts who contribute to iGlobenews and its publication in seven languages, multi-media content, with weekly vodcasts, audio articles and podcasts.

iGlobenews was represented at the award ceremony at Vienna City Hall by its Editor-in-Chief, Diana Mautner Markhof. Also present at the ceremony were 15 iGlobenews contributors and technical team members.

First place went to Tiba Marchetti, an ORF journalist working on the show moderated by ÖJC jury member and ORF employee Peter Resetarits. Third place went to ORF editor Marianne Waldhäusl for her excellent ORF reports on the program “Akte Betrug (Fraud File)”. iGlobenews was the only non-ORF finalist.

The renowned Austrian journalist Christian Wehrschütz, who has been the ORF war correspondent in Ukraine since the war started, was honored with the Dr. Karl Renner Solidaritäts Preis.

There were c. 20 nominations for this year’s Dr. Karl Renner Publizistik Preis. Over 90% of the nominees came from the ORF and its associated organizations such as FM4.

The ORF is Austria’s national public broadcaster. It is funded by a mandatory household levy of EUR 15.30 per month. This comes to an incredible yearly contribution by the Austrian tax payers of EUR 733 million. In addition, the ORF collects advertising revenue amounting to around EUR 183 million. Its budget for 2026 is expected to reach EUR 1.1 billion.

The ORF permanently employs around 4000 people and hires between 500 and 4000 freelancers. In comparison, the ARD, the German counterpart to the ORF, employs c. 20.000 plus another c. 20.000 freelancers. Germany is c. nine times larger than Austria!

Notably, first place and winner of the Renner Prize was an episode of the show „Am Schauplatz“ of ÖJC Jury member and ORF presenter Peter Resetarits. He was introduced as the „Bürgeranwalt“ (lawyer of the public). This designation has nothing to do with being a lawyer. Interestingly, this is not the first time „Am Schauplatz“ won the Karl Renner Prize, prompting Resetarits to emphasize during the award ceremony that the vote was „objective“. The casual observer could only agree with Shakespeare: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) has been faced with intense criticism for years because the governing political parties exert direct influence over its management and editorial direction through committees staffed by party members. Critics have long called for a genuine depoliticization and independence of the country’s largest media company which is controlled by the powerful ORF Foundation, whose members are appointed by Austria’s government, the Federal States, the workers council (Betriebsrat) and the political parties represented in Austria’s Parliament (SPÖ, ÖVP, FPÖ, NEOS and Green Party).

iGlobenews is the complete opposite of the ORF. It is non-political, independent and non-mainstream. It is an online media startup based in Vienna, Austria. It receives ZERO funding from the Austrian tax payer and is run as a non-profit organization with a very flat hierarchy. iGlobenews does not accept or post advertisements, nor does it have paywalls on its website. It believes in the citizen journalist rather than relying on traditional, corporate media networks and overpaid media managers. iGlobenews contributors are independent reporters whom the jury of the Renner prize honored as being excellent journalists offering in-depth reporting and excellent research on important subjects which mainstream media often gloss over.

For many years the ORF has made negative headlines. In 2026, the latest ORF scandal dominating headlines in Austria surrounded the now former Director of the ORF, Roland Weissmann. He resigned in March 2026 after sexual harassment allegations. An independent ORF committee has since determined that these allegations against Weissmann did not amount to sexual harassment.

Two members of the ORF Foundation Board resigned because of their unprofessional und bi-partisan handling of the Weissmann case, while ORF Manager Pius Strobl, the alleged instigator of the Weismann scandal whose ex-wife was the alleged victim, was put on leave as of 8 June 2026 pending an ongoing investigation into his involvement in this case and other accusations of corruption.

Strobl had already made negative headlines for being the highest-paid bureaucrat of the ORF. After Weissmann (who was appointed by the Austrian conservative party) revoked Strobl’s special pension which was allegedly granted by former Director Wrabetz (who was appointed by the Social Democrats), the working relationship between the two had broken down. Again, another example of party politics on full negative display at the ORF.

An independent ORF committee is now investigating this connection which might have motivated Strobl to start the witch hunt against Weissmann, whose contract was up for renewal at the end of 2026.

This committee will hopefully also investigate Strobl‘s yearly salary of EUR 469 000, in addition to his incredible pension for which the ORF has set aside a whopping EUR 2.4 million in its latest budget. According to an expert opinion, Strobl’s pension benefits would total more than one million euros, to be paid out in monthly installments. This amount is over and above the annual salary of the Austrian Federal President, EUR 349 398.

The Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office is now investigating preliminary allegations against former ORF Director General Alexander Wrabetz and top earner Pius Strobl.

Given these facts and the political cronyism in the ORF, the Goliath among Austrian media conglomerates, iGlobenews is the complete opposite. iGlobenews is the David fighting against this over-powering ORF Goliath and its cozy relationships with politicians, political parties and interest groups.

The ÖJC cited as one reason for giving iGlobenews the second prize, its “balanced news published online in seven languages, outside the mainstream”. In his speech, ÖJC President Christian Stöger emphasized the importance of thorough research, fact-checking, investigative skills and independence in reporting. He stated that „ democracy needs informed citizens. It needs media that ask critical questions, that exposes abuses, and brings different perspectives to light. This is what the Austrian Journalist Club stands for“. And this is at the core of what iGlobenews stands for.

In her acceptance statement, Diana Mautner Markhof thanked Executive-Editor Dr. Frances Mautner Markhof, a contributor to iGlobenews and instrumental in its success. She also thanked her team, most of whom could not attend because they are located outside of Austria. Despite this, iGlobenews came with the largest delegation, all of whom gathered on the podium for a big group photo. iGlobenews certainly stole the show.

Diana Mautner Markhof took the opportunity to introduce Betty Brown, the avatar developed by iGlobenews. The audience was incredibly impressed, as they had not realized during the introduction video that Betty Brown was an avatar. When asked about Betty Brown, Diana Mautner Markhof stated: „We cannot afford camera teams and expensive studios like the ORF, so we found a cost-effective solution which fit into our concept, organization and budget “. This criticism of the ORF did not go unnoticed, nor did the fact that iGlobenews was the only non-ORF winner this year.

This makes the second prize for iGlobenews even more extraordinary. Editor-in-Chief Diana Mautner Markhof thanked the Austrian Journalist Club for this incredible honor. In her statement she recalled how „iGlobenews was not given funds by the City of Vienna Journalist Start-Up Fund“ because those working for iGlobenews were not „journalists“. Ms. Mautner Markhof was proud of what iGlobenews and its team achieved, reaffirming: „now we have been officially accepted into the esteemed group of journalists“.

When Diana Mautner Markhof was asked by the moderator how she came up with the idea to start her own CNN she replied? „Idealism and the belief that we can do it better than mainstream media“ and of course many many hours of work and dedication. Go iGlobenews!