Sommaruga criticizes overhasty online media
Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga emphasized at the Swiss Press Awards ceremony that the work of media professionals is of the utmost importance to society. However, she takes a critical view of certain developments, such as the use of online tickers.
"When complex political business is reported in the online ticker at press conferences, I'm not sure whether this is technological progress or journalistic regression," said Sommaruga according to the text of her speech at the award ceremony in Bern on Wednesday evening. And when analyses of important government decisions appear online just ten minutes after a press conference, she wonders in amazement how it is possible to think, question, check and classify all at the same time in ten minutes.
Sommaruga also warned against the development that headlines often have little to do with the content of the articles. This is not a new phenomenon, but it is "increasingly affecting media that used to apply stricter standards." On the occasion of the Swiss Press Awards, however, Sommaruga said that she primarily wanted to pay tribute to journalistic quality and not question it. Journalism is absolutely indispensable for any free democratic society, even in the Internet age. The Panama Papers demonstrated this in a spectacular way. "Today more than ever, we are dependent on professional journalists who have the necessary resources to research, who are able to sift through, structure and check the flood of data and information and who are capable of embedding and classifying it."
Prizes for local journalism and photography
With the prizes for local journalism in the print, online, radio and TV categories and the Swiss Press Photo, the Fondation Reinhardt von Graffenried honored media professionals who have made a special contribution to local journalism and press photography in Switzerland. The names of the award winners will be announced in the course of Wednesday evening. (SDA)
