Press Council rejects complaint once and upholds it once
The Swiss Press Council has dismissed a complaint filed by the Romansh community against *Die Weltwoche*. However, it has upheld the complaint filed by the Forestry Association against *Bilanz*.
Weltwoche ran the headline "Hunters, robbers, Romansh speakers. The cheekiest minority in Switzerland" and the Surselva Romontsch language organization was appalled and lodged a complaint with the Swiss Press Council. In their opinion, the author blatantly violated respect for human dignity and the ban on discrimination in journalistic duties, according to a report by the news agency SDA. The Press Council disagrees and rejects the complaint. It is of the opinion that the article does not demean the Rhaeto-Romanic people in their humanity. Although the polemical tone and the terms used may have inappropriately offended the people concerned, the author had not exceeded the limits of freedom of comment and criticism. On the other hand, the Press Council upheld the complaint of the Swiss Forestry Association against Bilanz. The business newspaper had failed to differentiate and thus distorted information. The Swiss Forestry Association lodged a complaint against an article about a large-scale sawmill, as reported by the SDA news agency. In this article, Bilanz used quotes incorrectly. The report damaged the association's reputation and was factually incorrect. The Press Council supported this view.
