SVP wants less media regulation

The independence of the media from state influence and public funds is elementary for a democracy, said SVP National Council President Albert Rösti (BE) at the presentation of a party position paper to the media in Bern on Friday. Unfortunately, he said, the current system of fee-financed SRG, private radio and TV stations, which are also financed by fees, and indirect press funding is leading to more and more dependence on the state. And the state-financed or co-financed companies, such as SRG, Swisscom or Swiss Post, were proliferating in ever new areas of the media market that had previously been reserved for private providers. "The state-financed media are thus strangling the private providers," Rösti said.

Weltwoche publisher and Zurich National Council member Roger Köppel said it was not a question of abolishing SRG. However, he demanded that the SRG, which is financed by compulsory fees similar to taxes, be restricted in its advertising. It should not be allowed to suddenly spread to the Internet, regardless of the channel. There must be a clear definition of what exactly the public service comprises. First of all, the need for regulation would have to be clarified and, based on that, the limits of the public service would have to be defined, said Jean-François Rime, a member of the National Council from Fribourg.

Restriction of SRG's online activities

Instead of critically addressing the crucial issue for direct democracy - namely genuine media diversity in a functioning media market - the Federal Council accepts that the state-owned SRG can also expand its activities in the online sector in the future. This is a very unhealthy increase in state influence and no longer has anything to do with basic service provision.

Franz Grüter, a member of the National Council from Lucerne, also called for free competition on the Internet. SRG should not be allowed to perform a public service mission for news portals financed by fees. Fee money should not be used to squeeze private companies out of the market, to hinder them or to compete with them. In this sense, the approval of the merger of Ringier, Swisscom and SRG to form the advertising platform Admeira should not have taken place. This was a mistake, he said, because the cooperating companies created a dominant position in the online advertising market that the other players could hardly compensate for. The state also increasingly wants to have content blocked, he said. As an example, he cited foreign casino offerings or copyrighted works. "State intervention must not spread like a cancer," Grüter said.

Halving the fees

In its position paper for a free and vibrant media landscape as the basis of direct democracy, the SVP has also made further concrete demands. For example, media subsidies are to be dispensed with. A precise definition of the public service mandate and the corresponding restriction of SRG activities to these areas would allow the level of reception fees or media tax to be set at around CHF 200 per year, the SVP writes further. The SRG website would have to be limited to an audio and video library.

SRG offerings that are or could also be provided by private providers should be cancelled. Just like complementary radio stations, SRG's special interest channels should also be discontinued and the third channels should be privatized. SRF's third television channels in German-speaking Switzerland and Suisse Romande should be discontinued, according to the SVP. (SDA)