The SVP dominated the media with its topics again in 2016
In 2016, the SVP was once again by far the most frequently discussed party in the Swiss leading media: negatively rated, but omnipresent. This is shown by the Reputation Monitor Politics of the Research Institute Public and Society (Fög) of the University of Zurich.
Accordingly, the distribution of media attention continued to shift to the wing parties SVP and SP in 2016. The SVP retains its strong position, while the SP gains the most with 2.8 percentage points (PP). However, at 37 percent, the SVP receives more than twice as much attention as the SP or the FDP (just under 18 percent each).
The Greens also gained slightly (+0.4 PP), as one of their core issues was once again in the public eye thanks to the initiative to phase out nuclear power. The CVP, on the other hand, could probably have done without its increase in resonance (+1.2 PP): A lot of controversial and personalized coverage of President Gerhard Pfister, a lot of negative coverage of the party's unclear strategic direction.
FDP loses reputation but remains in the lead
The FDP continues to be rated best in the media (+4), ahead of the SP (+3). These are the only parties with a positive media reputation at the end of 2016. The Greens (+14) and the Green Liberals (+10) in particular are catching up. As already mentioned above, the CVP does not fare well in 2016 and loses significantly (-5). After comparatively positive coverage of its election success, the SVP also lost ground again in 2016, losing 11 index points.
SVP issues dominate - Greens defy
In 2016, the most frequent topics in the media were those with the SVP as the sender: the implementation of the mass immigration initiative (MEI), asylum policy and the enforcement initiative. The SVP is thus the opinion leader. Although it did not come off well in the media in connection with the three topics, it nevertheless conveyed the image of a party that conforms to its profile and behaves as its electorate expects.
In isolated cases, the FDP (AHF initiative), CVP (family policy) and SP (corporate tax reform III) also emerged as opinion leaders. However, all three received the most response on the classic SVP issue of the MEI.
The Greens were less driven by the SVP's dictates on issues. According to Fög, they also increasingly managed to manage their own issues in public.
SVP also dominates Facebook
On Facebook, the parties are not confronted with any media gatekeepers and can publish how and what they want. As is well known, however, attention is also a scarce commodity in social media.
The Facebook analysis of the Fög shows: The SP posted the most. The SVP, on the other hand, generated the most attention. In contrast to the other federal council parties, it posted the least, but its controversial topics generated the most feedback in the form of comments. Fifty-eight percent of the comments posted on party pages in 2016 were posted on the SVP's page. On average, an SVP posting triggered 80 comments. By comparison, the figure for the SP - the second-placed party - was just 17.
The enforcement initiative was the main topic of discussion on Facebook in 2016. The ten most-commented posts - nine of them on the SVP page - are to its credit. The number one, on the other hand, was published on the SP page and provoked 1105 comments. (hae)
Download the report with methodological notes on Foeg.uzh.ch.
