De Weck: Together against foreign competition
In an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag, the new SRG Director General, Roger de Weck, outlined his vision for the SRG. He also called on private media companies to engage in a discussion about the future of Switzerland as a media hub in the context of globalization: Companies should strengthen one another rather than weaken each other.
"SRG journalists should reflect polarization in a factual way, but not contribute to polarization additionally for the sake of spectacle," de Weck said. The task of the Swiss radio and television company SRG, he said, is to reflect political conditions - not to shape them. He also wants to reinforce the tradition of investigative journalism at SRG, despite the cost-cutting mandate, and to delve more into the history of Switzerland: "In times of upheaval, many Swiss people are interested in their roots - in history. Here, too, we can set even stronger accents."
De Weck also wants SRG to distinguish itself more clearly from private providers, "across the board", because otherwise it would lose its legitimacy. This does not mean, however, that it has to do without star presenters. But the main competitors are not in Switzerland; they are the big broadcasters in neighboring countries. And Google TV, Apple TV and Microsoft TV will soon join them. SRG must be the guarantor of an independent Swiss offering in the globalization process - it just has to be left alone.
In an interview with the newspaper, de Weck calls on the private Swiss media houses to debate the future of Switzerland as a media center in globalization. Because Switzerland is a dwarf on a global scale, it is in the interest of all Swiss media houses to strengthen rather than weaken each other. That is why "coopetition," a mixture of cooperation and competition, is needed. "On the one hand, cooperation for mutual benefit, for example in advertising; on the other hand, competition in terms of what's on offer."
