Politicians call for SRG competence center for information in Bern

SRG is to create a competence center for information in Bern, similar to the SRG competence centers for television in Zurich and culture in Basel, as Bernhard Pulver, President of the Bernese Government, explained to the media on Monday.

Pulver received support from Bern's Director of Economic Affairs Christoph Ammann, Valais State Councillor Christophe Darbellay, Fribourg Councillor of States Beat Vonlanthen, Bern Mayor Alec von Graffenried and Fribourg Mayor Thierry Steiert.

The politicians unanimously emphasized that SRG reporting is important for political participation and national cohesion.

The population in the five cantons of the capital region rejected the No Billag initiative resoundingly. "Until now, SRG has stood for well-founded editorial research from German-speaking Switzerland - and not for a centralized way of thinking. This was supported accordingly by the electorate," emphasized Vonlanthen, who is also Co-President of the parliamentary group Capital Region Switzerland.

Stronger anchoring in all parts of the country

Especially in times of concentration efforts by private media companies, SRG must play to its strength of being anchored in all parts of the country, emphasized Ammann.

The mayor of Fribourg emphasized the importance of the capital region as a bridge between the language regions. "The SRG has a political mandate to take linguistic and cultural diversity into account (...)", emphasized Steiert.

State Councillor Christophe Darbellay fears that by concentrating information in Zurich, reporting on more distant parts of the country, such as Valais, would have to take a back seat. "For us Valaisans, Bern is the gateway to 'Üsserschwiiz'," said Darbellay. Bern is and remains the political center with a corresponding effect on the whole of Switzerland.

The Mayor of Bern, Alec von Graffenried, also spoke out strongly in favor of the SRG location in Bern. He said that SRG's plans to relocate threatened quality journalism and the dialog with Switzerland. A concentration in Zurich could lead to the same content being broadcast on all SRG channels. "This would lead to a media policy dead end," said von Graffenried.

The City and Canton of Bern once again reiterated their offer to work with SRG to find a location in Bern that offers sufficient space.

Nothing decided yet

Nothing has been decided yet. As announced, SRG is currently carrying out a "complex but also very professional analysis regarding the optimization of its locations", the SRG media office announced on request.

This analysis is still ongoing. According to SRG, the issue has both an economic and a professional dimension. On the one hand, SRG must save 100 million. To this end, expenditure in the areas of infrastructure, production, administrative costs, technical investments, distribution, etc. is to be reduced. Buildings and real estate also fall into this category.

For this reason, the company is investigating alternative locations and optimization options for its activities in all regions, according to SRG.

In the professional dimension, SRG refers to production processes that are constantly evolving. For example, the boundaries between the various media (radio, television and internet) are shifting.

Audiences today have different expectations and demands. SRG must adapt to these developments and review and optimize its organizational and production models between radio, TV and digital offerings, throughout the country and in all areas.

Journalistic quality, regional roots and respect for diversity remain essential for SRG, the company added. The SRG Board of Directors will hold an initial discussion at the end of June. (SDA)