Swiss Press Council: Rules and claims for unsolicited texts
The handling of texts sent unsolicited to an editorial office is also subject to certain rules and standards. The Swiss Press Council made this clear in response to a dispute in the Zurich region.
At the same time, it partially upheld a complaint. This concerned a text on the subject of ecological compensation that appeared in the Oberland free weekly newspaper Regio.ch at the beginning of June 2009 and was signed "rp". According to the SDA, this abbreviation is used in the editorial office when information sent free of charge is published in an edited form, as the Press Council writes. The original text came from a professor at the Rapperswil University of Applied Sciences. A few days earlier, he had sent it to the Zürcher Oberländer ZO for publication without being asked. It was then passed on to the free newspaper published by the same publishing house, Zürcher Oberland Medien.
The professor filed a complaint with the Press Council. In his opinion, Regio.ch had obtained the text in an unfair manner and also violated the obligation to cite sources, as the author was not named. According to the Press Council in its statement published on Wednesday, there had in fact been a violation of the fairness of research as set out in the "Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Journalists". Firstly, the author should have been asked or at least informed before his text was passed on to another newspaper. In addition, the author of the report should have been named, as the statement goes on to say. However, the principle of naming sources had not been violated.
The professor filed a complaint with the Press Council. In his opinion, Regio.ch had obtained the text in an unfair manner and also violated the obligation to cite sources, as the author was not named. According to the Press Council in its statement published on Wednesday, there had in fact been a violation of the fairness of research as set out in the "Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Journalists". Firstly, the author should have been asked or at least informed before his text was passed on to another newspaper. In addition, the author of the report should have been named, as the statement goes on to say. However, the principle of naming sources had not been violated.
