Epiphany conference: Jans calls for stronger protection for media on the Internet
At this year’s Epiphany Conference, Beat Jans acknowledged the vital contribution of Swiss media publishers to democracy, as well as the major challenges they face. For this reason, the Minister of Justice stated that the protection of journalistic content should be improved through ancillary copyright. VSM President Andrea Masüger speaks of an industry crisis but remains confident that policymakers can mitigate it with the planned measures. German copyright expert Prof. Dr. Thomas Höppner also expressed alarm, calling for swift and robust regulation.
The 250 or so guests at the Epiphany 2025 conference are all likely to agree with Justice Minister Jans: "Swiss publishers and editorial offices make a key contribution to democracy". However, the event also clearly highlighted the major challenges that the media continue to face and the new challenges that the rise of artificial intelligence brings with it.
In 2024, the VSM celebrated its 125th anniversary and also looked back on a challenging year. President Andrea Masüger particularly regrets the dramatic reduction of around 700 jobs in the media industry. The fact that this step had to be taken at several publishing houses clearly shows: "We are in a crisis in the industry".
Exclusive m&k interviews on the Dreikönigstagung 2025: AI, the advertising market and the future of media
The Epiphany Conference of the Swiss Media Association put key topics such as artificial intelligence, big tech and the future of the media industry on the agenda in 2025. In exclusive interviews, Natali Helberger, Frank Bodin and Andrea Masüger talk to m&k about seismic changes, the responsibility of the advertising industry and the importance of independent media for democracy - complemented by a sweet moment with the winner of the Epiphany crown.
Handover of staff at the VSM office
The Epiphany Conference 2025 also saw the handover of the VSM management team. Stefan Wabel left the association at the end of 2024. Pia Guggenbühl will lead the association as Director from February 2025. Publisher President Masüger took the opportunity to thank Stefan Wabel for his commitment and to wish Pia Guggenbühl every success. In an exclusive interview, Guggenbühl talks about her motives, the focus of her work and the importance of collaboration and dialog in meeting the challenges facing the media industry. Insights from the Dreikönigstagung 2025 included.
"Media publishers must be compensated"
In his speech, Federal Councillor Beat Jans also thanked publishers and editorial offices for their key contribution to democracy. Due to current developments such as the announced abolition of fact-checkers on Facebook in the USA, "we need the media all the more", appealed Jans. Against this backdrop, the Federal Council is convinced that media publishers must be fairly compensated for the use of their content, for example in the form of snippets. The Minister of Justice used his appearance at the Epiphany Conference to emphasize the necessity and support of the Federal Council for an ancillary copyright law. With the rise of artificial intelligence, the debate on the protection of journalistic content is also taking on a new dimension.
Politics must become active on the Internet
"Politicians have waited a long time for regulation, now we have to take a clear stance," confirmed Petra Gössi (FDP.Die Liberalen), member of the Council of States in Schwyz, who took part in the final panel. She recently called on the Federal Council with a motion to clarify that journalistic content is also sufficiently protected against AI applications. Switzerland, with its democratic system, is particularly dependent on adequate protection of the media.
German copyright expert Prof. Dr. Thomas Höppner made it clear even before the panel: "We now need an ancillary copyright, stronger copyright and competition law protection and further regulations" in order to protect the media from the dramatically increasing power of the platforms. He is alarmed that Perplexity AI, for example, has long since ceased to be a search portal and has become a press portal. Traffic for the media continues to decline. "If publishers are dependent on AI chatbots to bring them traffic, their difficulties will be even greater than before," says Höppner.
The big beneficiaries of these developments are the "three kings of online advertising", as Höppner appropriately calls Meta, Google and OpenAI. They function as a network of privileged partners that hardly allow media diversity to survive. According to Höppner, politicians must counter this with swift, clear regulation on the one hand and the media on the other by counteracting the platforms with their key selling points such as topicality, trustworthiness and expertise.
"Commitment, reason, responsibility"
World Publisher President Ladina Heimgartner drives a stake into the ground in the concluding panel. The contribution of the media is of central importance for the provision of information to society. The professional media distinguish themselves from other information providers thanks to three Vs: Professional media have an obligation to society. The rationality of editorial teams is central to the quality of professional media. In addition, the responsibility that professional media take for their content is a decisive factor. With these qualities, the media must confront the tech giants - and also reclaim a share of the advertising market. "There is no financing crisis, but rather a distribution problem," Heimgartner aptly explains: "The journalistic expenses are incurred by the publishers, but the advertising revenue mainly goes to the platforms.
Over the next few days, m&k will be providing in-depth insights from the Epiphany conference.
