DRS ombudsman rejects complaint about May 1 reporting

Achille Casanova, Ombudsman DRS, was unable to find any errors in the reporting of the May 1st riots and therefore rejected a complaint as unfounded. A television viewer had complained that the riots of 1 May 2006 were played down in the Swiss Television (SF) programmes "Tagesschau" and "Rundschau" and equated with the appearance of right-wing extremists on the Rütli on 1 August 2005. This was deliberate disinformation, the viewer further complains, and accuses SF of having influenced viewers. In their replies, the editors responsible for the "Tagesschau", Heiner Hug, and the "Rundschau", Belinda Sallin, firmly rejected the accusations. "The "Tagesschau" did not in any way trivialize the events on 1 May," Hug concluded in the statement. Moreover, the main edition of May 1 that was the subject of the complaint did not mention the events on the Rütli at all. Meanwhile, Sallin makes it clear that in the "Rundschau" report of 3 May, a comparison was made with the obstruction of the Rütli speech by the then Federal President Schmid. However, this comparison was limited to the fact that a Federal President was unable to give a speech as planned. Casanova concluded by describing the reporting as extremely successful. The reporting was factual, comprehensive and comprehensible.