UBI rejects complaints against SRG contributions to election polls
Swiss television did not violate the principle of objectivity with its SRG Election Barometer ahead of the 2011 federal elections. The Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (Ubi) has rejected complaints regarding reports on the elections.
A statistics professor had lodged a complaint against 19 reports on "Tagesschau", "10 vor 10", the radio program "Echo der Zeit" and in special programs. He criticized that the polls on the electoral chances of the parties presented were not representative, as the reports suggested. The Ubi unanimously rejected 17 complaints; it did not act on the remaining two. Critically questioning the work of the GFS.Bern institute commissioned by the SRG is not a media law issue and is not the task of the Ubi, explained Ubi secretariat manager Pierre Rieder on Friday in St. Gallen.
"Representative" is misleading
Ubi only expressed concerns about the use of the term "representative survey". This is misleading for the public because the surveys are not necessarily statistically representative. According to Rieder, the UBI had established guidelines for the presentation of opinion poll results before elections and votes in previous decisions. For example, the client, commissioned institute, number of respondents, time of the survey and error rate must be made transparent.
Animal testing hidden
The posts currently being objected to met these criteria. The Ubi ruled on two further cases at its public meeting in Appenzell: The complaint by an animal rights activist against a program on the health magazine Puls about the neurotoxin Botox was deemed well-founded by the Ubi.
Puls had reported on the use of Botox as a wrinkle smoother and medication, but had omitted the aspect of animal testing associated with the production of the substance. Ubi rejected a further complaint against a report by "10 vor 10" about FC Sion and football scandals. (sda)
