Ombudsman's office supports complaint against "Late Update

The president of the Young Socialists (Juso), Ronja Jansen, had objected to the broadcast on SRF television last October 6. In the sequence she was called "Miss Juso" and "hot" as the new Juso president.

This was sexist because it was always women who were reduced to their appearance in such a way, although their field of activity had nothing to do with it. Sexist stereotypes are thus reinforced and reproduced, and no reference is made in the program to the problems associated with this.

This argumentation is supported by ombudsman Roger Blum. Blum himself raises the question of whether such a remark has any place in a satirical program. "I mean no, because it does not take your actions and behavior for a ride, but ironizes your appearance and thus reduces you to appearance and thus discriminates," he writes.

The editors had argued that the journalist asking the question was an artificial figure and that artificial figures were always used to distort the behavior of certain types of people beyond recognition. Following this argumentation, Michael Elsener had distanced himself from the statements of the artificial figure Frank-Walter Froschmeier in the next broadcast due to the public protest.

"If one thinks this through to the end, then the Star journalist's remark would not be sexist, but a criticism of sexism," Blum continues to write. This argumentation is to be taken seriously, but is not entirely convincing. Because an art figure must speak in conformity with type. He cited Alfred Rasser's "HD Läppli" or Viktor Giacobbo's "Harry Hasler" as examples.
These would all have behaved according to type. "That a German journalist mistakes a Romand for a Frenchman is still somewhat plausible," Blum writes. "But is it typical for German journalists to be sexist? Here, the artificial figure is probably somewhat overused. That's why I don't adopt the art figure theory."

At the beginning of October, FDP leader Petra Gössi had already complained about "Late Update"-Elsener after he had compared the demand for personal responsibility with the negligent use of weapons in a sketch (Werbewoche.ch reported).

Ten out of 170 shipments objected to

Ombudsman Blum further points out in a statement on Thursday that only ten of the more than 170 contributions to the federal elections broadcast by SRF radio and television in the national programs had been objected to. He supported the criticism in only two cases. This showed that journalistic work had been done professionally.

The second complaint, which was approved, concerned the program "Rendez-vous". The complainant had criticized the fact that there had only been talk of the women's surge in the FDP and GLP. However, the fact that the proportion of women on the lists of the Greens and the SP was still the highest was suppressed. According to Ombudsman Blum, the SP and the Greens should therefore have been mentioned. (SDA/swi)