Bankruptcy of Radio 3fach: moderate April Fool's joke
Radio 3fach announced its bankruptcy on Monday. Very few people could really laugh about the premature April Fool's joke.
Radio 3fach announced in a press release on Monday morning that it would cease operations on Monday. The station had run out of money and had to file for bankruptcy. The license and studio had been sold to an interested party from Zurich, who would continue operations on Radio 3fach's frequencies. Radio 3fach immediately ceased broadcasting - its frequencies remained silent until the afternoon. However, neither the Lucerne District Court nor the Lucerne Bankruptcy Office were aware of any bankruptcy filing. When specifically asked whether it was an April Fool's joke, program director Dani Glur told the news agency SDA that it was not a joke. When asked about the buyer of the studio, Glur explained that they were still in negotiations and would announce the name later. Glur could then no longer be reached by telephone.
"Very bad joke"
Only the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) provided clarity. According to spokeswoman Deborah Murith, the supervisory authority has no indications of bankruptcy and is not aware of any insolvency. At 5 p.m., Radio 3fach also announced that the bankruptcy announcement had been a false report. The April Fool's joke, which was brought forward to the end of March, was not very well received. The media portal Klein Report wrote of a "very bad joke". And there was also criticism on the broadcaster's own homepage. "Boring and stupid", "lowest level" and "so completely off the mark" wrote the commentators. Then you could start playing April Fool's jokes a week in advance. And listener Lisa says: "I'm going to help him with the joke on Grend". Switzerland's first youth culture station went on air in 1998. The ad-free Radio 3fach is aimed at 16 to 25-year-olds from the region. It is mainly financed by federal fees and sponsorship contributions. (SDA)
Yes, we fell for your "joke". In a fit of infantility and in the opinion of being particularly original, Radio 3fach launched an April Fool's joke on March 31 and announced its bankruptcy. Yes, perhaps we should have noticed, and I don't begrudge you the schadenfreude and sense of triumph you must have felt when a colleague from sda called to ask you to confirm the bankruptcy. Yes, perhaps we really should have taken you as you are, namely simply not seriously. Yes, then we would have been spared unnecessary work and trouble, and perhaps you'll also enjoy my comment.
But at a time when journalism has a major credibility problem, you are doing the industry a disservice if you simply lie to your colleagues. And I don't want that to go unchallenged. Even though you like to describe yourselves as contrast radio, I would like to take the liberty of drawing your attention to a point in your license where it says that you are setting up a quality assurance system that includes "content and formal quality objectives and standards (journalistic standards, editorial programme concepts, etc.)".
As far as I know, journalistic standards also include the Declaration of the Duties of Journalists, the very first point of which is: "Journalists shall adhere to the truth." In this case, your security system failed very early on, namely when consulting the calendar. I would also refer you to Article 4 RTVA, which clearly states that "broadcasts with information content must present facts and events in an appropriate manner". This also applies to information on your site. We could now go to the ombudsman's office, accuse you of violating the license and the RTVA, and we would certainly be proven right everywhere. However, such a procedure would tie up your resources, which in my opinion would be better invested in your own journalistic training and further education. Perhaps it would also be enough for you - if you want to be particularly funny again - to remind yourselves that journalism is not all fun and frolics, but also has a lot to do with responsibility.
