No Brexit in Beromünster

It has been a long time since we in Switzerland have argued as bitterly as we have in recent weeks. The "density stress" against "mass immigration" was a Sunday stroll compared to the apocalyptic rhetoric in the new Helvetic civil war and culture war over the SRG. The internal cohesion and external security of the country were brought into the field. In all parts of the country, cultural associations feared the end of Switzerland, or at least its "devastation". The existence of Swiss film, which could not survive without television, was at stake. Like musicians without the royalties of radio. In view of the horror visions, the scenario of the SRG, which announced 6,000 redundancies and the closure of broadcasting in the event of a "Yes" to "No Billag", seemed almost sober.

It went on for weeks, each new round driving the escalation. Eric Gujer, editor-in-chief of the NZZ, expanded the battle zone to include the past. He described the transmitters as remnants of intellectual national defense from a time when Switzerland was surrounded in its "Reduit" by nothing but fascists - Hitler, Pétain, Mussolini. Beromünster has been shut down in the meantime. And by a hair's breadth Gujer arrives at the undoubtedly correct assessment that today no one would think of justifying public service programs. If that is not a convincing argument for their abolition!

Actually, only the SVP could help. It upholds the myths of the World War and the Cold War and mobilized the intellectual national defense quite successfully in the fight against Europe. But the joy over the Brexit and the fight against mass immigration seems to make them surprisingly blind to the over-invasion by foreign programs - because this is also quite the issue. At least Roger de Weck understood that when he listed Admeira. With good reason, he mentioned the outflow of considerable sums through the "advertising windows" and the marketing of data by Google like Facebook. But of course SRG's alliance with Swisscom and Ringier was an unacceptable provocation that instigated the unspeakable dispute between the publishers. In her and his defense, De Weck sometimes struck patriotic tones that we usually only hear from national conservative circles.

Since the loss of importance of the army and the crash of Swissair, SRG obviously felt itself to be the last pillar of national identity and accordingly invulnerable. The behavior of its leadership is certainly reminiscent of the arrogance of Swissair, whose leaders had believed that it could survive on its own. The crash was not foreseen. The SRG is threatened with "No Billag". The initiative to abolish it would have been hopeless from the very beginning if the lessons of the 2015 vote on the conversion of fees into a compulsory levy had been learned. Not so much because of the narrow outcome, for which 3700 votes tipped the scales: 50.08 percent.

But because of the debate in the election campaign. For the first time, he had made people aware of what a "Moloch" (according to the NZZ am Sonntag) the SRG had become. But there was no trace of insight or humility. And the first contribution to the foreseeable campaign about "No Billag" was made by Roger Schawinski, of all people, who had once successfully fought the monopoly, was active as an entrepreneur in the private media sector and now also wants to pose as the savior of the SRG. A month before Roger de Weck's departure was announced, he appeared on "Schawinski". At the end of the show, the ex-pirate turned off the lights in the studio and waved a flashlight around. The face of his guest now appeared in the cone of pale light. "Am Schluss es birebitzeli en Joke," Schawinski commented on his gag, with which he poked fun at possible cost-cutting measures at SRG. It was the first apocalyptic vision in the ongoing discussion about "No Billag," which for a long time was conducted as an all-or-nothing affair but has since taken a turn for the sensible.

The mission for public programs is not permanent expansion. In times of press crisis and the battle for advertising on the Internet, a new balance is needed in the media industry. But this cannot begin with a clear-cutting. After all, it would not occur to any contemporary Swiss today to design such a complex entity as Switzerland.

Jürg Altwegg lives in France and Geneva, is the author of several books, a cultural correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and a contributor to Weltwoche.

This opinion column is from Werbewoche 3/2018.