Press Council rejects three complaints

If a politician's wife argues in court with a domestic worker, the press is allowed to report on it and identify the politician. The Press Council has rejected a complaint to this effect. However, the media report must be related to the political activity.
 

24 Heures reported in several articles about a domestic worker who accused the wife of an SP politician in court of withholding her wages, paying her below the legal minimum and abusively dismissing her. The politician under attack and his wife then complained to the Press Council that their privacy had been violated. For the Press Council, there is an interest in identifying reporting that outweighs the protection of privacy in the specific case. Even though the domestic worker was formally employed by the wife and her pharmacy, the politician was in fact also an employer. And as a lawyer specializing in labor law and as a member of parliament for a party that recently launched a campaign to improve the position of domestic workers, he had to put up with his private behavior being publicly discussed in this context.

Vigousse: Protect those affected from themselves

Is a satirical magazine allowed to denounce wrongdoing in a public office? Of course, says the Press Council. But this does not absolve the editors from hearing those responsible for the office before publishing serious allegations. In addition
he reminds that media should protect affected persons from themselves under certain circumstances and therefore refrain from identifying reporting despite their consent.

The satirical newspaper Vigousse in French-speaking Switzerland reported in several articles on abuses in the Youth Protection Department of the Geneva Youth Office. The Geneva Education Directorate then complained to the Press Council about false insinuations, the mixing of facts and commentary, the failure to hear serious allegations and an inadmissible mention of the name of a family concerned. The Press Council partially approves the complaint. Despite some inaccuracies, a violation of the duty of truth was not created. And the readership of Vigousse was able to recognize the commentary character of the reports in view of the sarcastic tone. In contrast, the magazine would have been obligated to confront those in charge of the criticized authority before publication, for example, with the accusation of having abusively placed a large number of children and of acting outside the law. In addition, from the standpoint of protecting the children involved, it would have been appropriate to refrain from identifying coverage of a family affected by the criticized measures, despite the consent of the parents. (PD)

Weltwoche: No Correction Necessary in "Chüngel-Gate

In the third case, the Verein gegen Tierfabriken (VGT) filed a lawsuit against Weltwoche. In the article "Swiss 'Chüngel-Gate'" Philipp Gut denounced deceptions and disregard in connection with foreign agony rabbit meat in the Swiss gastronomy. In the introduction, he praised Swiss regulations and laws regarding rabbit husbandry. VGT President Erwin Kessler subsequently demanded a correction, as rabbits are also allowed to be kept in solitary confinement in Switzerland. - a form of animal husbandry that cannot be reconciled with the Swiss Animal Welfare Act and is cruel to animals. The fact that Swiss rabbits are less well off than Gut claims in the introduction is not disputed either by experts or by the Press Council. However, since the main topic of the article was a different one, Weltwoche was not obliged, in the opinion of the Press Council, to reflect the legal-political criticism of the provisions of the Animal Protection Ordinance on rabbit keeping in Switzerland. Furthermore, the author had not based his statement on an absolute standard, but only on a comparison of the laws of Switzerland and abroad. (hae)