Theme month "The Swiss" polarizes
Opinions on the SRF's «The Swiss» theme month are divided within the SRG Deutschschweiz Audience Council. Among other things, critics have raised concerns about the selection of the main characters, the lack of female representation, and the information provided to the audience.
This writes the audience council in a statement on Tuesday. One half of the watch group thought the characters in the four docu-fiction films, the centerpiece of the theme month, were convincingly portrayed with their strengths and weaknesses. The other half thought the characters were "pathetically overdrawn." For a majority on the council, it was "hard to understand why there are no female historical figures." This shortcoming was not compensated for by other programs in which women were also portrayed, the report continues. The Council expects that in the future women "will naturally appear in the content and form of SRF's offerings." A minority criticized the choice of characters. The focus was too much on the powerful and myths. Important political aspects were missing.
Discoveries in the additional offer
Two programs on historical female personalities, "Sternstunde Philosophie," the animated series "Helveticus" for children and young people, the documentary "Image Problem," and the video series from Radio SRF 3 on the online portal "Mein Leben - meine Schweiz" (My Life - My Switzerland) stood out positively in the additional offerings of the theme month. For the Audience Council, the abundance of offerings in the theme month was "at the upper limit" - not least because many programs were also labeled "The Swiss" that did not provide any additional service. In the view of the Audience Council, SRG and SRF should have better informed the audience in the run-up to and during the theme month. (SDA)
