Council of States committee for print and against online media promotion
Print media publishers are to continue receiving indirect subsidies from the federal government in the future through reduced-rate delivery of newspapers and magazines. Following the National Council, the relevant Council of States committee has also called for this. It opposes subsidies for online media.
The Committee for Transport and Telecommunications of the Council of States (KVF-S) approved a bill to increase indirect press subsidies for the daily delivery of regional and local press by 9 votes to 2, as reported by the parliamentary services on Friday. The small chamber will decide on this in the winter session.
According to the communication, the majority of the Commission considers financial support for the print media to be a necessary measure to give them the time they need for digital transformation. In this way, their important democratic function should be secured for at least the next seven years.
Continue to subsidize the foundation press
Unlike the upper chamber, the Council of States committee also wants to retain the contributions for the membership and foundation press. The KVF-S reached this decision by 9 votes to 2. As a compromise proposal, it requested that the contributions be reduced from CHF 20 million a year today to CHF 10 million in future.
In order not to overburden the National Council's bill financially, the Council of States committee is calling for adjustments to the other subsidies. The contributions for the regional and local press should amount to CHF 40 million per year instead of CHF 45 million. The new annual subsidies for early delivery proposed in the bill should amount to a maximum of CHF 25 million instead of CHF 30 million.
Minority motions demand, for example, the complete abolition of contributions for early delivery or no increase at all in indirect media funding. Others want to follow the National Council and increase the contributions for the regional and local press or reject the proposal to cut early delivery.
Electronic media should be left out
As in the past, the KVF-S is skeptical about the introduction of channel- and business model-independent promotion of electronic media. By 8 votes to 3, it requested that a corresponding motion from the National Council be rejected.
"It would like to refrain from a general, cross-media promotion and thus also prevent the path towards the creation of state media from being taken," it said in the press release. The KVF-S also recalls that the promotion of electronic media was already part of the media package and was one of the biggest points of criticism.
The KVF-N motion for the promotion of electronic media was adopted in the National Council by 116 votes to 72 with one abstention and against the wishes of the SVP and the Center Party parliamentary groups. The funding is to be financed from the federal budget and compensated for by a reduction or abolition of indirect press subsidies.
Limits to state funding
Following the job cuts at Tamedia announced at the end of August, the Swiss Media Publishers Association recently also called for an expansion of indirect press subsidies. This is the only way to maintain the journalistic offerings of private media in Switzerland. The development also affects smaller local and regional newspapers. Without additional funding, newspapers will go out of business.
Media Minister Albert Rösti also recently expressed concern about the plans to cut costs in the media, particularly in French-speaking Switzerland. Good framework conditions and indirect help are needed, but the private press cannot be saved with federal funds alone, he said. The government is committed to good framework conditions, for example for the regulation of internet giants or artificial intelligence. (SDA/swi)
