Lack of women in the "Arena": SRG goes to federal court
SRG has referred a decision by the Independent Complaints Authority (UBI) to the Federal Supreme Court. It is defending itself against the assessment of an "Arena" program from April last year.
The UBI had criticized this as inappropriate because women were clearly in the minority. The topic of the program was the popular initiative "For an unconditional basic income", for which signatures are currently being collected. The UBI subsequently received a complaint pointing out the inadequate representation of women in the program. According to the complainants, this did not reflect the views of women. The choice of panelists gave the impression that it was a political initiative that primarily concerned men.
In its response, the UBI stated that women were indeed clearly in the minority in the contested program. However, this alone was not a violation of broadcasting law, as there was no quota regulation. However, the discussion was too "narrow". Those aspects of the initiative that primarily affect the female population were only discussed in passing. The UBI ultimately upheld the complaint. The program had violated the principle of fairness.
SRG is now defending itself against this interpretation. It has referred the decision to the Federal Supreme Court. SRG spokesperson Daniel Steiner confirmed a corresponding report by the online media magazine "Infosperber" on Friday at the request of SDA.
The UBI is an extra-parliamentary commission of the Swiss Confederation. It consists of nine part-time employees. Last year, the commission dealt with 20 complaints against radio and television broadcasts, four of which were upheld. (SDA)
(Teaser image: Keystone)
