SRG: Journalistic independence at major events remains an issue
According to SRG Director General Armin Walpen, if there are serious violations of journalistic independence during the Olympic Games in China, the SRG must consider halting its coverage.
Censorship is not generally regarded as a prevalent problem in our country, but the term is currently booming. Following the discussions about the transmission of TV images at Euro 08, SRG Director General Armin Walpen is now addressing the upcoming Olympic Games in China. The media must be able to report independently during the major event, he emphasized to the Sonntag newspaper. Two points were particularly important: whether the doping issue could be dealt with freely and whether journalists in general would not be hindered in their work. In the event of serious incidents, SRG would have to make fundamental considerations regarding media coverage, Walpen continued. According to Sonntag, this could mean that SRG could even stop its coverage of the Olympic Games if journalistic freedom is encroached upon. Walpen wants to be present in person at the major event to assess the situation. He sees the independence of the media at risk because the sports associations want to generate as much revenue as possible from the events. The SRG boss is therefore calling on the organizers to discuss the issue with the media companies at a round table.
Kallen rejects accusations Meanwhile, Euro managing director Martin Kallen defends himself against the accusations of censorship in an interview with the Sonntagszeitung - the same newspaper in which Walpen made accusations of censorship against Uefa a week ago. Kallen sees Walpen's statement as "disconcerting". In addition to the images from Uefa, any TV station could set up cameras in 40 positions and broadcast whatever it wanted. In his opinion, the images of fans throwing petards are not what viewers want to see at home anyway. There are no instructions from Uefa to the picture directors. Walpen himself also seems to be backtracking somewhat: He emphasized to Sonntag that the Uefa story was an "isolated accusation of secondary importance" and that Uefa should not be blamed "for everything bad in this world".
NZZ media journalist Rainer Stadler had already analyzed Uefa's role in more detail on Friday. He pointed out that SRG must have already known what it was getting into when it acquired the Uefa broadcasting rights - after all, such deals are sealed in thick contracts. However, Stadler considers it fundamentally questionable when a sports broadcaster takes over the basic supply of TV coverage.
Kallen rejects accusations Meanwhile, Euro managing director Martin Kallen defends himself against the accusations of censorship in an interview with the Sonntagszeitung - the same newspaper in which Walpen made accusations of censorship against Uefa a week ago. Kallen sees Walpen's statement as "disconcerting". In addition to the images from Uefa, any TV station could set up cameras in 40 positions and broadcast whatever it wanted. In his opinion, the images of fans throwing petards are not what viewers want to see at home anyway. There are no instructions from Uefa to the picture directors. Walpen himself also seems to be backtracking somewhat: He emphasized to Sonntag that the Uefa story was an "isolated accusation of secondary importance" and that Uefa should not be blamed "for everything bad in this world".
NZZ media journalist Rainer Stadler had already analyzed Uefa's role in more detail on Friday. He pointed out that SRG must have already known what it was getting into when it acquired the Uefa broadcasting rights - after all, such deals are sealed in thick contracts. However, Stadler considers it fundamentally questionable when a sports broadcaster takes over the basic supply of TV coverage.
