Broad alliance speaks out against "halving initiative"

At the start of the summer session, a broad alliance of 110 organizations sent an appeal to the National Council. The occasion is the discussion of the "halving initiative", which calls for a significant reduction in public funding for the SRG. The appeal was initiated by the media trade union SSM.

Under the entitled "It's about more than SRG", the letter was to all members of parliament last week. The appeal is not only directed against the initiative itself, but also against any counter-proposals that would further restrict the framework conditions for the public media service.

The signatory organizations come from various areas of society, including culture, sport, education, inclusion, the media industry and employee representatives. Together, they are campaigning for a strong, independent public media service.

In the view of the initiators, the initiative does not only affect the SRG. The visibility of linguistic minorities, the diversity of information and opinions and social cohesion in quadrilingual Switzerland are also at risk. "Cultural and sports offerings in particular, as well as services that promote inclusion, are especially at risk if the initiative is accepted," reads a statement from the SSM.

If the initiative is rejected, the partial revision of the Radio and Television Ordinance (RTVO) adopted by the Federal Council will come into force. This provides for a reduction in the household fee to CHF 300 by 2029 and an exemption from the fee for 80% of companies. This will reduce the annual contribution to SRG by CHF 120 million, which corresponds to a decrease of 17%.

The undersigned organizations already see the planned reduction in fees as a substantial cut. A further reduction through the initiative or additional proposals would endanger the basic media supply in Switzerland.

On Monday, representatives of the organizations reminded parliamentarians of their arguments with an action on the Bundesplatz.