SVP wants to return to SRF's political program "Arena" with immediate effect
After a three-week boycott, the SVP will return to the political program "Arena" on Swiss television (SRF) "with immediate effect". The largest Swiss party and the SRF management had agreed on this, as the broadcaster and the SVP announced on Thursday.
The decision to return to the discussion show was made after a discussion between SVP President Marco Chiesa (TI), parliamentary group leader Thomas Aeschi (ZG) and SVP National Councilor Thomas Matter (ZH) with SRF Director Nathalie Wappler, Editor-in-Chief Video, Tristan Brenn, and Editor-in-Chief Audio, Lis Borner, SRF announced.
The SVP wrote in a statement of a "constructive discussion". Regarding the "Arena" participation, the party said it demanded from SRG management that the broadcaster ensure "appropriate, balanced and neutral" moderation. The party reminded Wappler of a principle it announced when it took office in 2019, to make a program that informs but does not polarize and renounces opinion journalism.
Wappler welcomed the party's return to the discussion panel and stressed that SRF "remains committed to factual reporting, but also to political independence". With the Audience Council, the Ombudsman's Office and the independent complaints authority UBI, there were official control bodies that assessed the factual accuracy of reports. These bodies had given SRF "a good overall report card".
After an "Arena" broadcast around three weeks ago, the SVP announced that it would no longer take part in the discussion round "until further notice". According to its own statements, the party was reacting to a "gross derailment" by the moderator Sandro Brotz. He had acted as a judge towards Aeschi.
Among other things, the SVP demanded a debate with SRG's top management. The following three broadcasts then took place without an SVP representative. (SDA)
