SRF criticized for death scene
Because a death was shown in an SRF broadcast, Swiss television is under criticism. The scene violates the journalistic guidelines, they say.
Ex-SRF editor-in-chief Diego Yanez (left) criticizes the scene shown. The responsible division manager Daniel Pünter (right) rejects the criticism (Photos: MAZ/SRF)
In the program "Mona mittendrin", in which Mona Vetsch accompanied firefighters, viewers witnessed how a man died. He suffered a cardiovascular arrest in a shopping mall toilet, and resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful. SRF showed the scene pixelated, the man could not be recognized - after seconds of rescue attempts, he died on camera.
Nevertheless: The scene is causing discussions about media ethics. How the Switzerland at the weekend writes, ex-SRF editor-in-chief Diego Yanez took a clear stand against the behavior of his former employer in an SRF radio broadcast. For him, it is clear that the broadcast violates SRF's journalistic guidelines. Accordingly, it clearly states: "We do not show dying people". There are no exceptions, even if the scenes are broadcast in pixels.
Focus was on the fire department
SRF, on the other hand, does not see the case quite so narrowly. Daniel Pünter, the head of the department responsible, explained to the newspaper that the focus was not on the dying man, but on the firefighters. The scene shown is part of the everyday life of the fire department.
Yanez does not accept this argument: Death is part of the everyday life of many professional groups, but there is no need to show it. For the current MAZ director, it is clear that the fact that death is part of the everyday life of the fire department could have been portrayed in a different way - for example, by having the firefighters involved comment on it.
Relatives did not know about the television images
For the relatives of the deceased, the scene became additionally problematic because Blick made the identity of the deceased public. They regret this, says Pünter. Blick justified the publication by saying that the deceased was a well-known person who had already appeared twice on television - including in "Bauer, ledig, sucht" on 3+. According to the tabloid, the issue was that the relatives were not aware that their son and brother would be shown dying on television.
