Audience Council: SRG coverage "Federal Elections 2015

The comprehensive, diverse, factual and regionally focused program convinced the audience councils, as stated in a press release from the SRG Audience Council on Presseportal.ch. Over the years, SRG has consistently performed well in its election coverage. Critical discussions were prompted in particular by the language used on SRF, which is not always gender-appropriate, the gender representation in the RSI programme and the personalization of reporting.

In discussions with Marianne Gilgen, SRG's Head of Elections 2015, and representatives from SRF (Barbara Flückiger) and RTR (Isabelle Jaeger), the national SRG working group of the Presiding Audience Councils noted that the four language-regional business units and Swissinfo made a great commitment to election coverage. In quantitative terms, a great deal was done across all vectors (radio, TV and online) and language regions, as well as at Swissinfo with numerous articles on the topic of elections. This was despite the fact that not all regions had the same resources at their disposal. The websites with online dossiers and additional services such as election aids or the "Politbox", which focused in particular on a younger target group, were particularly praised. Critical comments were made regarding the partial lack of orientation aids and navigation on the Internet as well as the prioritization of topics according to relevance.

The extensive and varied SRG offering is attested a high quality overall. The reporting was factual and balanced and all regions ensured an independent offering. Voters were able to form a comprehensive picture of the political issues and positions of the parties in their regions. Among others, the RTR program "battaporta" was praised for its fresh and relaxed approach to young parties, as was "La mia Svizzera" on RSI la Uno, which was presented in an elegant and very lively manner. "Schweiz am Mittag" also provided an insight into the other language regions, according to Marianne Gilgen.

Personalization and rankings

The selection criteria for the inclusion of candidates in programs such as SRF's "Wahlfahrt", which provided a large platform for those portrayed, gave rise to discussion. According to Marianne Gilgen, the focus was on undisputed well-known personalities for the National Council who were not in need of electoral support. Nevertheless, the audience councils are of the opinion that despite the innovative and entertaining form as an infotainment program, the selection of those portrayed is a delicate undertaking. The influence on opinion-forming should not be underestimated. Equally delicate are "rankings" and party opinions that prevent a genuine discussion. Such programs should increasingly be enriched with facts and thus deepened. The Kassensturz programme from 22 September 2015 about the party duel was therefore classified as sensitive by the Audience Council. Smartvote was also critically scrutinized as an election aid. Interestingly, Smartvote was used very little, confirmed Marianne Gilgen. Another criticism was that the language used in SRF broadcasts and online content was not always gender-appropriate.

As development measures, the Audience Councils recommend that the "Politbox" in particular should be pursued further and ideally expanded. If necessary, renaming the SRG app could help to make the tool better known. SRF's election aids should also be made available to the other language regions.