Council of States opposes register of interests
The Council of States is calling for the federal government not to be required to maintain a registry of conflicts of interest involving journalists accredited to the Federal Parliament.
The Confederation should not have to keep a register of the vested interests of accredited journalists in the Federal Parliament. The State Policy Committee (SPK) of the Council of States wants to weaken a National Council motion. The National Council had approved a motion by Jürg Stahl (SVP/ZH) by 105 votes to 52 with 20 abstentions that journalists in the Federal Parliament should have to disclose their party affiliation, shareholdings, mandates and membership of politically relevant organizations (see Federal Parliament journalists should have to disclose interests). Stahl argued that the same level of transparency that applies to members of parliament should also apply to media professionals. Federal Chancellor Annemarie Huber-Hotz replied that employed media professionals were not comparable to militia members of parliament. The SPK asked the Council to amend the motion by 7 votes to 6. The Federal Council should only examine the extent to which journalists' vested interests should be disclosed as part of the revision of the Accreditation Ordinance.
