Unions call for stricter rules on media mergers
The unions criticize the Weko's decision to approve the merger of AZ Medien with NZZ. They warn that jobs will be cut and demand stricter rules for future takeovers in the media sector. The publishers are satisfied.
The Competition Commission (Comco) is a "toothless tiger in the media jungle" and is only allowed to examine "purely competitive aspects," criticizes the journalists' association Imprint in a statement. If the Weko is to play any role at all in the media market in the future, the hurdles must be lowered. Imprint sees the legislator as being primarily challenged. It is up to them to adapt the law in such a way that the Weko can also prevent socially harmful effects of competition restrictions.
For the media union Syndicom, today's decision shows that media concentration has taken on dangerous proportions. In the future, reporting in wide regions from eastern Switzerland to central Switzerland to the western Mittelland will come from the hands of one company, the union stressed in a statement. This will reduce the diversity of media and opinion. Syndicom Vice President Stephanie Vonarburg explained to the Keystone-SDA agency that the company has a duty to make this diversity visible in its newspapers and also to allow it internally among media professionals.
In Syndicom's view, a commitment is now needed to safeguard the jobs of the 2,000 or so employees affected. Vonarburg demands that the job budget be maintained as far as possible.
Syndicom also sees the new Chairman of the Board Peter Wanner, who is also Vice President of the Publishers Association, as having a responsibility. He must strengthen the social partnership with a collective labor agreement in order to secure working conditions and journalistic independence.
Publishers' association satisfied
In a brief statement, the publishers welcome the Weko's decision. "The media industry depends on as much leeway as possible to organize itself optimally in the structural change," explains Andreas Häuptli, managing director of the Swiss Media Association, in response to an inquiry from the Keystone-SDA agency. As the main competitors, the Weko would have to take above all the US companies Google and Facebook into its evaluation. These two platforms siphon off almost two billion Swiss francs from the Swiss advertising market without any money flowing back into a publishing service. The publishers' association did not want to comment on further questions. (SDA)
