UBI: Ombudsmen for radio and television re-elected
The Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (UBI) has reappointed the ombudsmen who report to it for another four years.
Swiss broadcasting legislation provides for ombudsman offices for Swiss radio and television broadcasters, as detailed in a press release issued on Monday. With the exception of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG), these are appointed and supervised by the UBI. There are three ombudsman's offices for private radio and television broadcasters, divided into language regions.
For the German- and Romansh-speaking regions, the UBI has Guglielmo Bruni from Basel was confirmed as ombudsman for a further four years, while his deputy remains Oliver Sidler from Zug. The French-language ombudsman's office remains the responsibility of Denis Sulliger from Vevey and the Italian-speaking one at Gianpiero Raveglia from Roveredo. Guglielmo Bruni is also the representative for the Italian-speaking and Gianpiero Raveglia for the French-speaking region. The persons re-elected until the end of 2015 all work full-time as lawyers.
The ombudsman's office is responsible for dealing with complaints. Within 20 days of broadcast, any person may complain about a program to the competent ombudsman's office. The alleged defect must relate to the content of the broadcast. Complaints can be made, for example, that the broadcast is inappropriate, trivializes violence, is inhumane, immoral or harmful to young people. A complaint can also be submitted if access to the program has been denied.
The UBI is an extra-parliamentary commission of the Swiss Confederation. It consists of nine part-time members and is chaired by Roger Blum. In response to complaints, the UBI must determine whether radio and television broadcasts have violated provisions on the content of editorial programs or whether access to the program has been illegally denied.
