Media law conference on breaches of secrecy
Last Thursday's Media Law Conference, hosted by the Media Institute, focused on „The Limits of Public Disclosure and Confidentiality.“.
The Media Institute's media law conference last Thursday focused on the "Limits of Publicity and Secrecy". Speakers discussed current legal issues with an interested audience of around 70 people, as reported by the Media Institute. Federal Chancellor Annemarie Huber-Hotz discussed the topic "When secrets become stories" with Christoph Grenacher (Editor-in-Chief of Sonntagsblick), Peter Studer (President of the Press Council) and Roland Bless (OSCE). Bruno Glaus dealt with the problem of undercover investigations. Urs Saxer analyzed the effects of the new Radio and Television Act. Christoph Born reported on the legal disputes following the NZZ am Sonntag's coverage of a heart operation with fatal consequences at Zurich University Hospital. The docu-drama about the demise of Swissair "Grounding" raises questions of personal rights. Stephan Herren, Marc Wehrlin, Willy Egloff and Rudolf Mayr von Baldegg explained how they assess these from different positions.
If you want to keep a secret, you should be concerned about it yourself, is one conclusion of the discussions. As soon as these secrets end up in editorial offices, they become information. There they are evaluated according to journalistic criteria. The debate between Annemarie Huber-Hotz and Christoph Grenacher also showed that the concept of confidentiality is interpreted and handled very differently, according to the communiqué. The administration quickly associates confidentiality with indiscretions. The media treat them as news and sensations.
If you want to keep a secret, you should be concerned about it yourself, is one conclusion of the discussions. As soon as these secrets end up in editorial offices, they become information. There they are evaluated according to journalistic criteria. The debate between Annemarie Huber-Hotz and Christoph Grenacher also showed that the concept of confidentiality is interpreted and handled very differently, according to the communiqué. The administration quickly associates confidentiality with indiscretions. The media treat them as news and sensations.
