Foundation Board of the Swiss Press Council approves expansion of sponsorship

At its meeting on Tuesday 28 March, the Board of Trustees of the Swiss Press Council Foundation decided to enter into negotiations with publishers and event organizers on expanding its sponsorship. This was announced by the foundation in a press release on Thursday. An expansion of the sponsorship to include publishers and event organizers has been controversial among the Foundation Board and the journalists' associations for years, and corresponding requests have always been rejected to date. In a new fundamental discussion, the Board of Trustees has now clearly decided not to close itself off to a dialog and to enter into negotiations. Initially, these are to be conducted with the Swiss Press Association and ASRG SSR idée suisse. At a further meeting in June, the Board of Trustees will discuss and approve a negotiating mandate. Negotiations are expected to begin in the second half of 2006.