Urgent support measures for media called for
Several media and journalist organizations have proposed emergency measures to the National Council and the Council of States to counteract the thinning out of journalistic information due to the financial situation of the media in the Corona crisis.
The proposals were submitted to the National and Council of States Commissions for Transport and Telecommunications (KVF), as announced by Impressum, Syndicom and SSM on Thursday. The proposals to the commissions consist of a package: during the crisis, newspapers and magazines are to be delivered free of charge by Swiss Post. Furthermore, the subscriptions of the information media at the news agency Keystone-SDA should be financed by the federal government.
A fund of CHF 100 million is also intended to help media outlets out of financial difficulties and to finance journalistic research. And the reserve for planning deviations from the radio and television levy, which is budgeted at CHF 34.2 million for 2020, is intended primarily to support licensed private radio and television stations and audiovisual production in their particularly difficult situation.
Virtually all editorial media are reporting unprecedented demand for editorial information, the report continues. This is reflected in record click-through numbers, as well as online subscriptions and newsstand sales of newspapers, and even direct donations to editorial offices. However, the Corona crisis has led to extreme declines in sales on the advertising market, and many media are therefore on the verge of bankruptcy.
The undersigned organizations consider it an important public interest that journalistic information be maintained for the population, all the more so in the extraordinary situation.
The following professional organizations submitted the proposals: Syndicom, Impressum, Investigativ.ch, Media Forti, Medien mit Zukunft, Medien für alle, Association romande des producteurs audiovisuels and Schweizerisches Syndikat Medienschaffender SSM. (SDA)
