"Not in a vacuum"
Media Funding: CHP Executive Director Daniel Kaczynski does not want to take any hasty steps in the political arena.
Press funding CHP Managing Director Daniel Kaczynski does not want any hasty steps in the political arena.WW On August 17, direct press funding was rejected by the State Policy Committee of the Council of States (SC) - entirely in line with the Swiss Press Association (CHP).Daniel Kaczynski: "It was in line with the majority opinion that we as the CHP office have to represent. But we also have members, mainly small publishers, who would like to see direct press funding.
tions. At the 2002 members' meeting, it was decided that we would speak out against direct and in favor of indirect press funding. This was confirmed last year. In this respect, we are now pleased with the Commission's decision.
Conversely, the foundation for press promotion proposed by the Swiss Press Association (CHP) did not receive any support either. Why didn't you get your way with it?
You have to separate the two things. The Commission's decision was primarily about Andreas Gross's parliamentary motion calling for a change in the system from indirect to direct press funding - by means of media articles. The Commission has now said that it does not want this system change. It also looked to the future and searched for ways that are compatible with this fundamental decision. One possibility is our foundation or an extension of the Postal Services Act. But everything is still open in this respect. Our foundation model has not even been finalized yet.
Does this mean that the CHP has not yet presented the foundation model in the hearings with the Commission? The hearings were primarily about the media article, not about the foundation. But of course we said that we are currently working on an alternative. We were also asked to do so by the politicians.
But the association does not yet have a formulated draft for the foundation idea?we are almost there. We are waiting for the decision of the Council of States and will then make an assessment. Perhaps the whole thing will go back to the National Council (NR), which was the first council to approve the media article. In any case, we shouldn't rush things now.
Nevertheless, the CHP is always a little too late. The foundation idea was launched just five days before the NR debate on the media article, which was ultimately clearly adopted. And now you have failed to present the foundation idea to the SR Committee at an early stage.
The SR Commission did not focus on alternatives, but on the question of whether or not we wanted the media article and the system change. We are not lagging behind. Of course, in previous years the association often only reacted to politics, but now we are acting correctly by only fighting the media article for once. There are very few politicians who can deal with this complex issue in depth. That's why you always have to take one step at a time. We are making good progress.
The commission wants to continue the current reduction in postal taxes, but use the funds in a more targeted manner. This probably means: more for the little ones, less for the big ones, and nothing more for customer magazines such as Migros-Magazin or TCS-Revue. So she already has a certain alternative to the media article. Her idea, on the other hand, is not even under discussion. The stand type will then ...
The Council of States will consider the parliamentary initiative and ask itself whether the media article is needed or not.
And there is no point in presenting the foundation idea as an alternative to both the media article and the extension of the Postal Act?
No, because the question is a different one. In addition, the Commission's ideas are still at a very early stage - something has to be worked out first. In addition, we have also included the critical points you mentioned about the current system in our model. We are not in a vacuum.
Is it still the case that the foundation is primarily intended to provide financial support for press distribution, but also for training and data dissemination?
And should it continue to be endowed with 150 million francs? no, we are very unhappy with this amount. The figure came up once, but it was never specified as a target figure by our working group. We cannot demand an amount before it is clear who will make contributions and what the distribution key will look like. The amount is then a political decision.
The example of newspaper logistics, as implemented by Swiss Post and the publishers at the beginning of August (see WW 24/04), reduces distribution costs. This shows that the federal government was right to cut back on press subsidies.
The cut in postal taxes did not result in improved processes for publishers, only higher postal rates - a big chunk at a time when the industry was not doing particularly well. I don't know whether Swiss Post needed this impetus to improve its structures. Either way, the new logistics will not provide the same postal service with a leaner organization, but many newspaper subscribers and publishers will have to accept cutbacks, and some publishers will even have to accept additional costs.
Diverging ideasThe current press subsidy through the reduction of postal taxes (CHF 80 million per year) expires at the end of 2007. Two alternatives are under discussion. One is the media article favored by small publishers, which provides for direct federal support measures for press companies. The National Council approved it last year, but the preliminary consultation committee of the Council of States rejected it. It preferred to see a modified continuation of the postal tax reduction. For its part, the Swiss Press Association introduced the idea of a foundation for press promotion into the discussion a year ago. Among other things, it would support press distribution. (mk)
Contradicts the accusation of lagging behind politics: CHP Managing Director Daniel Kaczynski.
Interview: Markus Knöpfli
tions. At the 2002 members' meeting, it was decided that we would speak out against direct and in favor of indirect press funding. This was confirmed last year. In this respect, we are now pleased with the Commission's decision.
Conversely, the foundation for press promotion proposed by the Swiss Press Association (CHP) did not receive any support either. Why didn't you get your way with it?
You have to separate the two things. The Commission's decision was primarily about Andreas Gross's parliamentary motion calling for a change in the system from indirect to direct press funding - by means of media articles. The Commission has now said that it does not want this system change. It also looked to the future and searched for ways that are compatible with this fundamental decision. One possibility is our foundation or an extension of the Postal Services Act. But everything is still open in this respect. Our foundation model has not even been finalized yet.
Does this mean that the CHP has not yet presented the foundation model in the hearings with the Commission? The hearings were primarily about the media article, not about the foundation. But of course we said that we are currently working on an alternative. We were also asked to do so by the politicians.
But the association does not yet have a formulated draft for the foundation idea?we are almost there. We are waiting for the decision of the Council of States and will then make an assessment. Perhaps the whole thing will go back to the National Council (NR), which was the first council to approve the media article. In any case, we shouldn't rush things now.
Nevertheless, the CHP is always a little too late. The foundation idea was launched just five days before the NR debate on the media article, which was ultimately clearly adopted. And now you have failed to present the foundation idea to the SR Committee at an early stage.
The SR Commission did not focus on alternatives, but on the question of whether or not we wanted the media article and the system change. We are not lagging behind. Of course, in previous years the association often only reacted to politics, but now we are acting correctly by only fighting the media article for once. There are very few politicians who can deal with this complex issue in depth. That's why you always have to take one step at a time. We are making good progress.
The commission wants to continue the current reduction in postal taxes, but use the funds in a more targeted manner. This probably means: more for the little ones, less for the big ones, and nothing more for customer magazines such as Migros-Magazin or TCS-Revue. So she already has a certain alternative to the media article. Her idea, on the other hand, is not even under discussion. The stand type will then ...
The Council of States will consider the parliamentary initiative and ask itself whether the media article is needed or not.
And there is no point in presenting the foundation idea as an alternative to both the media article and the extension of the Postal Act?
No, because the question is a different one. In addition, the Commission's ideas are still at a very early stage - something has to be worked out first. In addition, we have also included the critical points you mentioned about the current system in our model. We are not in a vacuum.
Is it still the case that the foundation is primarily intended to provide financial support for press distribution, but also for training and data dissemination?
And should it continue to be endowed with 150 million francs? no, we are very unhappy with this amount. The figure came up once, but it was never specified as a target figure by our working group. We cannot demand an amount before it is clear who will make contributions and what the distribution key will look like. The amount is then a political decision.
The example of newspaper logistics, as implemented by Swiss Post and the publishers at the beginning of August (see WW 24/04), reduces distribution costs. This shows that the federal government was right to cut back on press subsidies.
The cut in postal taxes did not result in improved processes for publishers, only higher postal rates - a big chunk at a time when the industry was not doing particularly well. I don't know whether Swiss Post needed this impetus to improve its structures. Either way, the new logistics will not provide the same postal service with a leaner organization, but many newspaper subscribers and publishers will have to accept cutbacks, and some publishers will even have to accept additional costs.
Diverging ideasThe current press subsidy through the reduction of postal taxes (CHF 80 million per year) expires at the end of 2007. Two alternatives are under discussion. One is the media article favored by small publishers, which provides for direct federal support measures for press companies. The National Council approved it last year, but the preliminary consultation committee of the Council of States rejected it. It preferred to see a modified continuation of the postal tax reduction. For its part, the Swiss Press Association introduced the idea of a foundation for press promotion into the discussion a year ago. Among other things, it would support press distribution. (mk)
Contradicts the accusation of lagging behind politics: CHP Managing Director Daniel Kaczynski.
Interview: Markus Knöpfli
