20 Minuten reprimanded for political advertising on front page
The Swiss Press Council has reprimanded 20 Minuten for an advertisement on the self-determination initiative on its front page. The paper had thus violated the declaration of duties and rights of journalists concerning the separation of advertising and editorial content.
The ad with the text "Should Turkish judges be able to overturn our ban on minarets? If you don't want that, say yes to the self-determination initiative! The illustration of a minaret was kept in the same color as the logo of 20 minutes.
Although the publisher had taken into account the usual criteria for the separation of content and advertising by using a different font for the advertisement than for the usual front page, writes the Press Council in its decision published on Friday. In addition, the client "Egerkinger Komitee" was mentioned and there was a label as an advertisement.
But this reference was hardly visible and the committee was hardly known to the general public. Above all, however, everything had been laid out on a single graphic level and therefore there had been too little clarity for the readership about the front page, which usually always contained the most important information.
The Press Council assessed page 2 differently on the basis of two complaints: There, the difference between the political advertising and the editorial content was clear at first glance due to the completely different typeface. Also, no false impression could have been created, although in this case the required labeling as "advertisement" had been missing. (SDA)
