To the point: background story
Because of Easter, the last issue of *Werbewoche* was published four weeks ago. In the spirit of a chronicler’s duty, here is a look back at some of the topics that made headlines in the Swiss media during that time. This list is by no means exhaustive.
There was the story of the recalcitrant SP National Councillor Jacqueline Badran, who was kicked out of a non-smoking club for puffing away. She tweeted her frustration and was probably no longer quite in her right mind due to the drop in nicotine levels. A trivial story, but it made it to 73 articles in the Swiss Media Database (SMD). However, as is often the case, the story behind the story is the more interesting one: the journo who broke it is somehow connected to the club's PR aunt, who in turn used the Badran story to publicize the new must-be-there location. Nasty.
Then something from the animal kingdom - animals always pull. Are-you-eigetli-from-off-bite-Mörgeli against Sandro Brotz, "Rundschau", SRF, and all the left-wing journalists who joined forces with the well-known left-wing forces of the University of Zurich against him, the fighter against all evil. That's right - he seemed a bit like Don Quixote, the black-haired ex-professor and SVP chief strategist. 87 articles in the SMD. Plus an appearance on TeleZüri, which was to be feared. Amusing and tragic at the same time.
The "Rundschau" cannot rest. The report on Bishop Vitus Huonder and his diocese of Chur is a case of "demagoguery and audience manipulation". Okay, the clergy know this problem from centuries of practical experience. So it is nothing but logical to lodge a complaint with the Press Council. Amen.
The concerted Offshore Leaks campaign has resulted in 375 articles in the media database in the last seven days. Chapeau to the research performance (2.5 million documents with a data volume of 260 gigabytes) of the International Consortium for Investigative Journalism. What surprised me, however, is that practically no Swiss journalist has raised the question of whether there might not be tangible interests behind the whole story and perhaps even allow themselves to be instrumentalized? Perhaps the story behind the story would be more interesting here too. Who has an interest in this data being made public? Who benefits from it? Lots of questions, but so far no answers.
Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief [email protected]
