SRG Director General Armin Walpen misquoted
The Swiss Media Professionals’ Union (SSM) states in a press release that SRG Director General Armin Walpen was misquoted in the media —the claim that Walpen is demanding that recipients of AHV and IV supplementary benefits should once again pay fees in the future is completely false. The full text of the press release:
"The SSM is astonished to note that the Swiss press is almost universally reporting that SRG Director General A. Walpen is demanding that recipients of AHV and IV supplementary benefits should pay fees again in future. This as a contribution to balancing SRG's finances.
This claim is completely false. In the interview with the magazine L'Hebdo, to which the reports allegedly refer, A. Walpen says quite simply that the fee exemption granted to EL recipients is not the responsibility of SRG SSR. This is correct and should also be understood by people who do not (want to?) understand French texts.
The SSM emphasizes that it is of course absolutely right to exempt EL recipients from the license fee - it is well known that these people are not on a bed of roses. However, this is a socio-political task that should be borne by the Confederation and the cantons, not by SRG SSR. The more than 50 million needed for this is a mere pittance for the public sector, but for SRG it accounted for two thirds of the deficit in 2008. If ByeBye-Billag is trying to cook up a political soup on the basis of misinformation, this only shows the lack of intellectual capacity of those behind this campaign."
This claim is completely false. In the interview with the magazine L'Hebdo, to which the reports allegedly refer, A. Walpen says quite simply that the fee exemption granted to EL recipients is not the responsibility of SRG SSR. This is correct and should also be understood by people who do not (want to?) understand French texts.
The SSM emphasizes that it is of course absolutely right to exempt EL recipients from the license fee - it is well known that these people are not on a bed of roses. However, this is a socio-political task that should be borne by the Confederation and the cantons, not by SRG SSR. The more than 50 million needed for this is a mere pittance for the public sector, but for SRG it accounted for two thirds of the deficit in 2008. If ByeBye-Billag is trying to cook up a political soup on the basis of misinformation, this only shows the lack of intellectual capacity of those behind this campaign."
