UBI rejects complaints against SRF publications

At its public deliberations on Thursday and Friday in Thun, the UBI dealt with six cases, all of which concerned SRF publications. The subject of one case were reports by the consumer magazine "Kassensturz" on February 9, 2021 and March 2, 2021 about a doctor's "highly controversial treatment methods" for a patient and a female patient, both of whom were suffering from cancer. The doctor concerned lodged a complaint against the publications, criticizing them as tendentious, condemning and incomplete.

With regard to the first contribution of February 9, 2021, the members were not in agreement as to whether the audience was able to form its own opinion on the information conveyed in the sense of the requirement of factual fairness. A contentious issue in the discussion was whether the point of view of the physician under attack was expressed in an appropriate manner so that disputed statements were recognizable as such.

In the end, the UBI came to the conclusion by a narrow vote of five to four that the broadcast met the minimum requirements for factual fairness. The UBI unanimously rejected the complaint against the broadcast of March 2, 2021, in which the doctor was able to explain his point of view comprehensively in the context of a broadcast interview.

Error in "Kassensturz" did not violate the principle of objectivity

A popular complaint was directed against the "Kassensturz" report of April 6, 2021 on the popular initiative "For clean drinking water and healthy food". It concerned the criticism of organic farmers against the board of Bio Suisse, which had recommended to the delegates' meeting to reject the drinking water initiative. In the complaint, it was claimed that insertions concerning the content of the initiative - "no imported feed" - did not correspond to the facts. In their deliberations, the members of the UBI indeed considered this point to be incorrect. However, this deficiency alone was not sufficient to justify a violation of the requirement of objectivity, since the focus of the two-part report was on the dispute between the organic farmers, the presentation of which was not objected to by the complainant.

Moreover, since both camps had a balanced say with regard to the drinking water initiative, the diversity requirement with its special requirements for contributions relating to an upcoming referendum was not violated either. The UBI rejected the complaint by seven votes to two.

"Info 3" has reported appropriately about everyday life on construction sites

The UBI also deliberated on two complaints against contributions to radio broadcasts. On February 15, 2021, the evening edition of the current affairs program "Info 3" reported on the working situation of construction site workers in Zurich in winter and during the pandemic. The Swiss Association of Master Builders complained that the portrayal of everyday life on construction sites was one-sided. Criticism of the article was voiced during the discussions, particularly with regard to the highly abbreviated statement by the Swiss Association of Master Builders. However, since its central argument - the lack of representativeness of the construction sites presented - was mentioned, the UBI considered the minimum requirements for objectivity to be met and dismissed the complaint by eight votes to one.

Statistics in the "Rendez-vous" contribution not required

The members of the commission controversially assessed a short news report in the program "Rendez-vous" on immigration and emigration of foreign persons on February 4, 2021, which was based on the newly available statistics for 2020. The question was whether the figures on net immigration should also have been mentioned in the report. The UBI found by six votes to three that this was not necessary due to the clearly recognizable topic and focus of the report in light of the principle of objectivity and dismissed the complaint.

"Sternstunde Religion" remained relevant despite unfortunate choice of title

On November 15, 2020, SRF television broadcast a discussion on the topic of "Islam in Crisis" in the program "Sternstunde Religion. The occasion was the Islam-motivated terrorist attacks in Dresden, Nice, Paris and Vienna. The complainant complained that the crisis nature of Islam as a whole had not been addressed. In the UBI's deliberations, the unfortunate choice of title was pointed out, which could have created false expectations. However, it was also emphasized that the concept of the program was quite different from other discussion formats such as "Arena" or "Club," where the focus is on controversy. Despite the misleading title, the audience, which is better informed than average, was able to form its own opinion on the aspects discussed in the program in accordance with the principle of objectivity. The UBI rejected the complaint by seven votes to two.

"Sternstunde Musik" did not deceive

Also on November 15, 2020, television SRF showed the documentary "Truan komponiert" in the program "Sternstunde Musik". At the center of this is a Basel composer whose creative process of composing is accompanied. The complaint was that the audience had been misled by the failure to mention essential facts. In deliberation, however, the members emphasized the personal character of the documentary. The focus was on the portrait of a composer. Since the audience was able to form its own opinion on this, the UBI unanimously dismissed the complaint. (SDA/swi)