Federal Councillor Leuthard calls for CLA negotiations for media professionals
Media Minister Doris Leuthard is calling on publishers in German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the media industry unions.
The Federal Council does not intervene directly in such matters. "But I would very much like the publishers to be more open to discussion," said Leuthard in an interview with the newspapers Südostschweiz and Nordwestschweiz on Friday. She hopes that a CLA for media professionals will result in higher journalistic quality. Unlike German-speaking Switzerland, which has been without a contract for eleven years, there is still a CLA in French-speaking Switzerland. "This has a noticeably positive effect on the level of quality," said the media minister. The quality of journalists has "not deteriorated", Leuthard noted. However, they are under great time and cost pressure. "No wonder journalists sometimes write each other off." This type of journalism had "clearly increased" on online channels on Sunday, for example. The media companies need to ask themselves what level of quality they want - after all, the credibility of their products is at stake. (SDA)
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