Criticism of paternalism by Fifa
SRG SSR's audience councils give the coverage of the World Cup in Brazil good marks overall. SRG's broadcasts had been of high quality. However, there was criticism of Fifa.
In addition to the comprehensive coverage of all the games, the background information on the host country was particularly praised. The app was also impressive, as the audience councils announced on Tuesday. The live commentaries also received high marks, although some of the press had harshly criticized them. However, the audience councils would like to see more female participation for the upcoming World Cup, i.e. a woman in the commentary team.
However, the audience councils criticized Fifa and its dealings with broadcasters. The broadcasting for the games is becoming more expensive every four years. At the same time, the Fifa production department was delivering more and more ready-made contributions. In view of the pressure to save money, the temptation to fall back on these contributions is great. This is also the case with SRG: The World Cup app and the magazine "Fifa World Cup Preview" were taken over by Fifa. As the audience councils write, however, it was noticeable that SRG wanted to break out of the tight Fifa corset, for example with critical contributions about Brazil. For this purpose, reporters who do not normally report on sports were also commissioned. Back in August, the audience council gave the television broadcast of the World Cup a good report (Werbewoche.ch reported) (SDA/hae)
