Press Council recalls journalistic rules
Advertising must be clearly separated from editorial articles in newspapers and magazines. The Swiss Press Council recalls this journalistic principle in a statement on a section of the Geneva daily newspaper "Tribune de Genève".
Advertising must be clearly separated from editorial articles in newspapers and magazines. The Swiss Press Council recalls this journalistic principle in a statement on a section of the Geneva daily newspaper "Tribune de Genève".
The statement was triggered by a complaint submitted by the editorial and staff committee of the Geneva daily newspaper in May 2006. In it, the journalists criticized the free advertising section "Echo du commerce", which was printed in "Tribune de Genève".
In this section, Geneva stores could present their products. The short illustrated text provided information about the qualities of the product and also included the price and address of the store. However, there was no critical comparison with other products. For the journalists, this meant that there was no "clear separation between advertising and editorial content", as reported by the SDA. In addition to the editorial committee of the "Tribune", the "Info en danger" association had also submitted a general complaint along the same lines.
After various hearings, the Swiss Press Council comes to the conclusion: In the case of the "Echo du commerce" section, the journalists should have decided independently which stores and products they wanted to present. In fact, they were only allowed to present businesses that also advertised in the newspaper. According to the Press Council, this is not acceptable for editorial content. The "Tribune de Genève" has since abandoned the section under the new editor-in-chief Pierre Ruetschi.
The statement was triggered by a complaint submitted by the editorial and staff committee of the Geneva daily newspaper in May 2006. In it, the journalists criticized the free advertising section "Echo du commerce", which was printed in "Tribune de Genève".
In this section, Geneva stores could present their products. The short illustrated text provided information about the qualities of the product and also included the price and address of the store. However, there was no critical comparison with other products. For the journalists, this meant that there was no "clear separation between advertising and editorial content", as reported by the SDA. In addition to the editorial committee of the "Tribune", the "Info en danger" association had also submitted a general complaint along the same lines.
After various hearings, the Swiss Press Council comes to the conclusion: In the case of the "Echo du commerce" section, the journalists should have decided independently which stores and products they wanted to present. In fact, they were only allowed to present businesses that also advertised in the newspaper. According to the Press Council, this is not acceptable for editorial content. The "Tribune de Genève" has since abandoned the section under the new editor-in-chief Pierre Ruetschi.
