SRG Ombudsman on Syria: Crimes are to be called "crimes

"Media must be able to call crimes "crimes"" and be guided by the standard of human rights, Blum writes in his final report on a complaint about Radio SRF's coverage of Syria. For the media and media professionals, the human rights declarations and conventions of the UN and the Council of Europe as well as the "Declaration of the Duties and Rights of Journalists" of the Press Council, "which also contains the obligation to tell the truth," are the ethical standards for their work. Journalism is always a representation of others, he said. "But reporting neutrally would mean not having any standards at all," Blum wrote. "If one party commits an obvious crime and the other does not, then neutral reporting would require that both parties be credited with crimes and both also with peaceable behavior. But that is nonsense."

Distance from all

If, on the other hand, one takes the side of respecting human rights, then this leads to "trusting parties to the conflict who largely adhere to these codes more than those who do not." In the Syrian conflict, however, it is important for the media to keep their distance from all parties to the conflict, Blum continued, at least as long as it has not been completely clarified which camps are right on disputed points.

Treat Russia neutrally

A radio listener had complained about a report on Syria on Radio SRF's "Heute Morgen" program, in which the following sentence was uttered during the presentation: "The ruler Assad is bombing his way to victory against the rebels with the help of Russia. The role of Russia is "systematically distorted" by SRF, the complainant wrote. Assad's government is always devalued as a "regime," while the rebels are always portrayed positively, he said. He called on the radio to report in a balanced and neutral manner. Neutrality is not a criterion "Neutrality is not a journalistic criterion, but a political one," contradicted the deputy editor-in-chief, Fredy Gsteiger, in his statement. In addition, the question arises between which camps SRF must position itself neutrally. The goal, he said, was rather to provide a factual account as well as comprehensible and well-argued assessments.

Regarding the criticized sentence, Gsteiger wrote that it was a statement of fact, albeit an abbreviated one, as is often the case in anchor presentations. The word regime, on the other hand, fits exactly: free, democratic elections have never taken place in Syria under the rule of father and son Assad. The term rebels is value-neutral, in contrast to insurgents and terrorists or liberation fighters and resisters. SRF had reported since the beginning of the conflict that parts of the opposition "do not share our Western democratic values at all, and often violate them massively." Both sides had committed war crimes, he said. (SDA)

Photo Roger Blum: Twitter.com, Background: Screenshot SRF