Federal Council wants to support newspapers and online media
The Federal Council wants to provide more support for newspapers - and now also for online media. In total, it wants to spend an additional CHF 100 million a year. However, it has decided against the planned new media law.
"The media are the foundation of our democracy," said Media Minister Simonetta Sommaruga (pictured) in Bern on Wednesday. Nothing has changed in that regard, she added. But newspaper revenues were steadily declining. The Federal Council does not want to simply accept this development. It considers measures that can be implemented quickly to support the media to be sensible and necessary.
In the future, the Radio and Television Act will also support online media. Their importance is growing, Sommaruga said. The population is increasingly obtaining information on the Internet. However, the willingness to pay for digital media offerings remains low.
Money only for pay offers
The Federal Council does not want to encourage the freebie mentality any further. It therefore wants to support only paid digital offerings. Providers who sell digital media content and thus aim for longer-term financial viability are to benefit. The Federal Council assumes that this will cost 50 million francs a year. For the time being, however, online funding is to be limited in time.
Prerequisites for support include a certain proportion of editorial content, a continuous offering and compliance with journalistic standards. The editorial independence of the media will be preserved, Sommaruga emphasized in response to corresponding questions. The criteria would roughly correspond to those that apply to indirect press funding.
More indirect press promotion
Indirect press promotion consists of discounts for postal delivery, from which newspapers currently benefit. The Federal Council wants to expand these. It proposes to expand the group of eligible subscribing daily and weekly newspapers.
Specifically, the Federal Council wants to lift the existing circulation cap of 40,000 copies. In addition, titles that are part of a header association are also to benefit from a reduction in delivery. An additional 13 titles would be eligible for subsidies, Sommaruga said.
More discount per copy
In addition, the reduction per copy is to be increased so that newspapers with a small circulation also receive more support than today. This will also increase support for the local and regional press, writes the Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC).
To enable the additional funding, the federal contribution is to be increased from the current CHF 30 million to CHF 50 million. An amendment to the Postal Act is also necessary. Publishers had called for an even greater increase in the amount.
Training and news agencies
Support measures are also planned to strengthen the entire media sector. Training and further education institutions, news agencies, self-regulatory organizations and IT projects for the benefit of electronic media are to benefit from this.
A total of 27 million Swiss francs has been earmarked for this. Exactly how they will be distributed is still open. The Federal Council does not want to change anything in the framework conditions for SRG and local and regional radio and TV providers.
No new law
With this package of measures, Media Minister Sommaruga is taking a different path than her predecessor Doris Leuthard. The latter had sent a new law into consultation. The law also provided for the promotion of online offerings - but only for online media that essentially rely on audio and video content.
In this way, the Federal Council wants to protect the press from subsidized competition, Leuthard said when presenting the proposals. In any case, there was no constitutional basis for direct subsidies for newspapers - whether printed or online.
Failed in the consultation process
In the consultation process, however, the new law was not convincing. Many had pointed out the difficult situation of the press and claimed an urgent need for action, writes the Uvek. The Federal Council has now responded to the criticism and decided to provide greater support for the media on the basis of existing laws.
He wants to submit his package of measures to parliament by summer 2020. Also under discussion is the creation of a new constitutional article that would allow direct promotion of print media. Appropriate motions are pending in parliament. The Federal Council has not taken a decision on this. It wants to wait for the decisions in parliament. (SDA)
