Delivery of newspapers is part of basic service according to publishers
The delivery of subscribed newspapers should continue to be part of Swiss Post's basic mission. This is the view of the Swiss Media Publishers Association. On Friday, it reacted critically to proposals from a commission of experts on postal reform from 2030.
In a statement, the association expressed concern that the expert commission no longer wants newspaper delivery to be part of Swiss Post's basic service mandate in the future. The daily delivery of print media is of democratic importance and must be maintained at all costs. Many people depend on information from the print media every day.
Today, Swiss Post must deliver subscribers' daily or weekly newspapers to their homes by 12:30 p.m. at the latest, six days a week. In 2020, 964 million copies were delivered by Swiss Post. This is mainly in rural areas, where there is no early delivery by third-party providers. Publishers and the Post estimate that even after 2030, more than 600 million newspaper copies would still be transported each year.
Despite declining circulation of subscribed newspapers, the assumption that delivery of printed newspapers would no longer meet a need in the future was wrong, the publishers wrote. The share of printed circulation for most daily and weekly newspapers is still significantly higher than the share of digitally distributed copies. (SDA)
