Who is watching the watchers? SMEs need more critical attention

Like any form of introspection, journalism also has its blind spots. But the blind spots in the Swiss media industry are growing in proportion to its consolidation, because without vigilant competition there can be no effective criticism. If, for example, one's own publisher is interviewed, a major advertising client is spared or the mistakes of the competition are commented on, media journalism reaches its natural limits in terms of objectivity. Operational blindness is therefore also constitutive for the communications sector. However, this well-known weakness in the system of media self-enlightenment in no way explains or excuses the fact that problematic ownership structures are either deliberately ignored or tacitly accepted by other industry observers.

The takeover of Persönlich's parent company by Publigroupe, for example, was only announced by the "Zeitschrift für Werbung und Medien" itself in 2008. So discreetly, in fact, that it almost seemed a little coy. Strangely enough, this dubious deal was not worth a headline either to the major newspapers, most of which continue to cooperate with the troubled advertising broker, or to the direct competition. Even when the editors of Werbewoche, where I earned my living until 2005, came under the protective wing of Südostschweiz boss and publisher president Hanspeter Lebrument around two years later (disclaimer!), the questions about conflicts of interest and loss of credibility that arose did not materialize.

Even the Swiss journalist, who usually likes to scandalize, did not exploit the loss of independence of his main competitors. Only Kleinreport addressed the peculiar ownership structure - without, of course, disclosing its own - and thus refuted the emerging rumor of a mutual standstill agreement. There can really only be two reasons for the eerie calm in the eye of the storm: Either it is an expression of a lack of relevance and acrimony on the part of the two leading industry services, so that the new owners are of no interest at all. Or the opinion-forming press does not want to spoil things with the largest Swiss "media sales agency" and the influential publisher president. Both assumptions would be worth analyzing. Anyone who has noticed the lack of questions about the monopoly that has prevailed for the past year in the small, but fine Swiss market for clipping services is in even greater need of an explanation.

As a result of the merger with the up-and-coming Central Swiss family business ZMS, the Zurich top dog Argus now has de facto sole control here, despite the nominal continuation of the current subsidiary. Clipping customers like me (disclaimer!) are observing this two-company strategy without price differentiation with growing skepticism. For the business press, however, such developments are apparently only relevant when the Competition Commission comes into play - i.e. only when sales exceed CHF 100 million.

However, "journalism journalism" (the title of a great book on the meta-topic), which takes its self-observation mandate seriously, must keep an eye on the entire media industry, i.e. also look after the supposedly small fish. If these swim under the radar of those large publishing houses that can still afford media journalism, they would certainly be a feast for bloggers and online mediazines. Because in the long run, observers without observers become like kings without controllers - complacent and dangerous.