Ringier also withdraws from the publishers' association in French-speaking Switzerland

"The withdrawal at the level of German-speaking Switzerland means that Ringier Romandie is leaving Médias Suisses," said a media release from the Publishers Association of French-speaking Switzerland on Monday. The association regrets the step, also because Ringier Romandie has always been strongly committed. According to the statutes of the Publishers Association of French-speaking Switzerland, the withdrawal will take effect from December 31, 2016. The background is a dispute among publishers triggered by a joint venture between Ringier, SRG and Swisscom. The three companies want to bundle the marketing of their media offerings and advertising platforms in a new company (Werbewoche.ch reported). This new marketing organization led to a scandal in the Swiss Media Association (VSM) last Thursday. Because, according to Ringier, the VSM practically demanded a ban on advertising for SRG, the media company withdrew from the association with immediate effect (Werbewoche.ch reported).

Advertising alliance meets with criticism from publishers

Although the VSM regretted Ringier's decision to withdraw, it considered it to be logical. The publishers' association argued that the joint venture would further distort competition in the media industry. Médias Suisses took the same line on Monday. The association considers it unacceptable that SRG, which is financed by public funds, and Swisscom, which is majority-owned by the state, are interfering in an extremely tense market. This not only harms publishers, but also threatens the diversity of the media in Switzerland, he said. This episode shows that it is more necessary than ever to put clear limits on SRG. In French-speaking Switzerland, the newspaper Le Temps and the weeklies L'Hebdo and L'Illustré are thus no longer represented in the publishers' association. The director of Ringier Romandie, Daniel Pillard, also regretted the withdrawal. The problems in French-speaking Switzerland are different from those in German-speaking Switzerland, particularly with regard to training and the collective labor agreement, Pillard said in response to an inquiry from the SDA news agency.

Concerns about collective labor agreement

Unlike in German-speaking Switzerland, a collective labor agreement still applies in the press in French-speaking Switzerland. The social partner of the professional association Impressum and co-signatory was the publishers' association Médias Suisses. The professional association expressed its shock at the withdrawal of Ringier Romandie on Monday. Imprint would carefully review its strategy towards Ringier Romandie and contact those responsible in this sense. However, Ringier Romandie is still bound to comply with the collective labor agreement until the end of 2017, the professional association stated on Monday. The Syndicom union described it as an alarming signal if Ringier were now to say goodbye to the social partnership in western Switzerland as well. The dispute over the planned advertising alliance is a media policy dispute between the publishers, Syndicom said. This should not be carried out on the backs of media workers, nor should it lead to a deterioration in their working conditions.

Withdrawal also from journalism school

By leaving the association, Pillard will also have to resign as president of the Training Center for Journalists and Media (CFJM), as well as president of the Joint Commission of the Collective Labor Agreement. Until the end of 2016, he does not have too many fears, Pillard said in this regard. He hopes that for the time after that, solutions will be found for both the collective labor agreement and the training center. Then it will be seen whether the withdrawal of Ringier and Ringier Romandie is just a chapter or a historic turning point, he said. (SDA)