Swiss Press Council reprimands Schweizerzeit for article on homosexuals in schools
The Swiss Press Council has reprimanded the *Schweizerzeit*, which is headed by former SVP National Council member Ulrich Schlüer. The newspaper violated its duty to report the truth with the article «'Falsely Sexual' in the Classroom.» In addition, the author misrepresented a quote.
On July 14, 2017, the Swiss time published a brilliant text, writes the Press Council in a press release, according to which "gay and lesbian lobby groups" are gaining access to more and more school classes. "The denormalization of bisexuality and heterosexuality has long since become the mainstream of state-sponsored sex education," the author concluded. The St. Gallen-Appenzell Office for Aids and Sexual Issues then complained to the Press Council, claiming that the article painted a false picture of sex education.
The specialist unit accused the author of creating a false impression with the sentence "radical gender indoctrination takes place behind closed classroom doors". Teachers, schools and, if requested, parents were informed about the content and objectives of these visits. The Press Council concluded that the expression "behind closed doors" does not accurately describe school practice. For normal readers, this means "in camera" or, according to the Duden dictionary, "in secret". The author thus created the false image that something improper or forbidden was happening in the classroom.
According to the Code of Journalism, journalists are not allowed to omit important information. The Press Council also considers this requirement to have been violated: This is because the author omitted something from a quote. This distorted and intensified the statement. However, the article was not discriminatory, the Press Council ruled.
What was special about the complaint was that the publishing director of "Schweizerzeit", former SVP National Councillor Ulrich Schlüer, saw the complaint as "an attack on the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press and freedom of expression". The Press Council sharply rejects this view.
The Press Council is the self-regulatory body of the Swiss media, supported by the industry associations. Its task is to defend the freedom of the press by identifying breaches of professional ethics and thus offering the public a point of contact if they feel unfairly treated by media reports. (pd)
