UBI partially approves complaint against TVO
The Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (UBI) has upheld a complaint against TVO's "Fokus" program. However, it rejected the complaint against three reports from "Ostschweiz aktuell" by the same broadcaster.
In the "Fokus" programme, TVO Managing Director André Moesch discussed the issue with the then President of the St. Gallen cantonal government Josef Keller - both supporters of a licence for TVO. According to the UBI, it was not apparent "that the question of the effects of media concentration in the region was of fundamental importance and controversial".
The point of view of competitor Tele Säntis was not expressed, although Tele Säntis was "mentioned several times in a negative context". The presenter also failed to counterbalance the tendentious nature of the broadcast, writes the UBI.
According to the UBI, TVO also reported one-sidedly on the concession issue in three shorter news reports. However, these reports did not violate the requirement of objectivity because the facts were correct and the lack of representativeness of surveys was recognizable to viewers.
