Federal Council earns criticism with proposals on media promotion

The Federal Council wants the media levy to support not only radio and television, but also online media. These should only receive support if they mainly offer audio and video content. The aim of the Federal Council is to protect the press from subsidized competition. Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard said in June that there was no constitutional basis for direct support for newspapers - whether printed or online. The consultation on the Media Act ends on Monday.

Criticism of the proposals is strong among the parties. Only the Green Liberals agree in principle. The draft law must take into account the importance of the Internet as an information medium. The SVP and FDP, on the other hand, are fiercely critical. They strictly reject direct support for online offerings. The SVP considers the law on electronic media to be completely unnecessary. There is already a wide variety of offerings in the online sector in particular, making state support programs superfluous.

No state media

In the eyes of the SVP, state funding jeopardizes the impartiality of the media, as they would become dependent on the public purse. In their eyes, deregulation would be appropriate with fewer laws and more freedom and competition. The FDP considers the SRG's performance mandate to be too vague. It would like to see a focus on the essentials for the various language regions. Sport and entertainment, for example, should only be offered if they are of national importance and cannot finance themselves on the market.

The French-speaking Swiss publishers' association Media Suisse rejects the draft in its entirety, but offers to make improvements. By subsidizing free online offerings, the federal government is creating life-threatening competition for the private media. The Left Party criticizes the lack of subsidies for printed media products in particular. Short video films are worthy of support, but researched press releases are not, the Greens put it in a nutshell. The SP, CVP and BDP also agree with this criticism.

Controversial commission

The proposed Commission for Electronic Media (Komem) also meets with little approval. The SVP sees it as a "watchdog council" and therefore unnecessary. For the FDP, the Komem's remit is too broad and the committee should concentrate solely on licensing electronic offerings. The BDP and the Green Liberals also have reservations about the commission. They believe it has too much power and the composition of "five to seven independent experts" is questionable. Media Switzerland finds the Komem superfluous.

Although the SP considers this to be a good idea, it is not practicable in the proposed form. The Greens welcome a regulatory authority that is independent of the state, but believe that an in-depth examination of various models such as a public council, an advisory group or similar is necessary. The Federal Council should continue to be responsible for licensing. The media union (SSM) is also in favor of a commission that is independent of the state. However, the experts would have to be genuinely free of vested interests. Their selection would have to be made by the Federal Council.

Regional broadcasters feel ignored

Another point of criticism is the omission of regional radio and television stations from the draft. The Association of Radio Stations in French-speaking Switzerland, for example, believes that the proposals considerably worsen the current framework conditions. The principle of public service for a region is neglected and the financing of broadcasters is called into question. Although the contributions from the licence fee pot would remain the same, the number of recipients would increase. The SP, BDP and CVP also fear for the regional electronic media. (SDA)