DRS ombudsman's office: election reporting was appropriate

 The DRS ombudsman's office did not record any significant changes in 2007, even though the framework conditions had changed due to the new RTVA. The number of complaints was almost the same as in the previous year. Many of these concerned election coverage. In his annual report, Ombudsman Achille Casanova concludes that election coverage on Swiss television and on Radio DRS in the election year was decent and appropriate. All complaints received in 2007 about election broadcasts on TV or radio were dismissed as unfounded, writes Casanova in the latest edition of Link, the magazine of the Audience Council and the member companies of SRG Deutschschweiz, published on Tuesday.
Ombudsman Casanova received a total of 146 complaints in 2007. In the previous year there had been 150. There were no serial complaints, which means that the ombudsman's office was not misused for campaigns, Casanova continues.
Casanova classified 25 percent of the complaints as justified. This is practically the same as the previous year's figure of 24 percent. According to Casanova, journalistic errors were found in more contributions than in the previous year. However, these were mostly not relevant enough to be classified as a violation of the program regulations.
Casanova forwarded 11 of the complaints to the Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television. In the previous year, this figure was 9.