Councils want to provide media with bridging assistance during the crisis
The National Council and Council of States want to provide the media with bridging assistance during the coronavirus crisis. They are calling for free agency reports, free or discounted newspaper delivery and emergency aid of CHF 30 million for private radio and TV stations.
On Tuesday, the National Council approved two motions from its Committee for Transport and Telecommunications (KVF). The Council of States had already approved two similar motions on Monday.
The aid is intended to bridge the gap until the amendments to the law drawn up by the Federal Council to strengthen the media can come into force; they are due to be discussed by the councils in the near future. The Federal Council had therefore spoken out against the motions.
Information in demand
During the crisis, the demand for information and classification in the media was high, the committees of both councils had argued. Advertising revenues, on the other hand, had collapsed. This would dramatically exacerbate the already difficult economic situation of the media, threatening "irreparable damage".
Matthias Aebischer (SP/BE), speaking on behalf of the majority, said that too much time would pass before the Federal Council's measures came into force. Gregor Rutz (SVP/ZH), on behalf of the minority, spoke of a "perfect mix-up" between the consequences of structural change and desires in the crisis.
Rutz conceded that the media are important for democracy. "But creating dependencies is also particularly dangerous in this context."
Help for media companies
The first motion, which the National Council adopted by 124 votes to 66 with three abstentions, calls for temporary funding to enable the Keystone-SDA news agency to provide its basic text service to Swiss media customers in the national languages free of charge. A maximum of ten million francs would have to be made available for this purpose, according to the Council of States.
According to the motion, local and regional newspapers should also be delivered free of charge by Swiss Post, while other daily newspapers should be delivered at a reduced price. Together, this would cost around CHF 35 million. The prerequisite is that the publishers do not pay out any dividends for the current year.
The second motion - also supported by the SVP - calls for the immediate distribution of an additional CHF 30 million as emergency aid for regional radio and TV stations, whose advertising income has fallen by 60 to 95 percent according to the KVF. This could be financed from the fluctuation reserve of the fees. The National Council adopted the motion by 178 votes to 12 with 3 abstentions.
Transitional solution
The aid approved by parliament is intended to be a temporary solution until the Federal Council's planned package of measures for the media comes into force. The Federal Council also wants to provide more support for newspapers, radio and television stations and news agencies. It sent the dispatch on this to parliament last week.
The Federal Council rejected both motions with reference to this package of measures. This was a response to the structural crisis facing the media and was more sustainable than immediate measures. With the requested emergency aid for regional TV and radio stations, there is a risk that the reception fee, which will be reduced from CHF 365 to CHF 335 from 2021, will have to be raised again. (SDA)
