SDA: Confederation demands compliance with quality
The federal government wants to oblige the SDA news agency to deliver quality. The Federal Administration receives reports in three languages from the agency to the tune of around one million francs every year.
According to the Sonntagszeitung, the Federal Administration is now insisting on quality in the ongoing negotiations for the new contract from 2011: "It is important to us that the three voice services are offered in the same high quality," Vice-Chancellor André Simonazzi is quoted as saying in the Sonntagszeitung. Simonazzi said that a corresponding clause would therefore be included in the new contract. The background to this is the round of cost-cutting at SDA. 10 percent of the 140 jobs will be cut, with French-speaking Switzerland more affected than German-speaking Switzerland. This puts the language solidarity guaranteed in the service agreement at risk. Editor-in-chief Bernard Maissen says that the cuts in French-speaking Switzerland are "only minimally greater" than in German-speaking Switzerland. SDA will comply with the federal government's requirements.
