"Incomprehensible, disturbing, outrageous."

Publishers are cutting off funding to the Swiss Press Council. Hanspeter Lebrument, president of the Swiss-German Publishers Association (VSM), confirmed on Friday, August 26, that the VSM will no longer pay any contributions for the next three years. He cited economic reasons, including Ringier's withdrawal from the association, which has resulted in a drop in income (Werbewoche.ch reported).

For Christian Campiche, the president of Impressum and also a member of the Press Council Foundation Board, this decision is "incomprehensible, disturbing and even outrageous. Urs Thalmann, Managing Director of Impressum and also a member of the Foundation Board, affirms: "36,000 Swiss francs for ethics should be too expensive for media companies, some of which make profits in the hundreds of millions? This decision is grotesque! Especially because, on the part of the media companies, SRG as well as Ringier will continue to co-finance the Swiss Press Council."

Up to now, the publishers have paid 36,000 francs per year. Imprint, alongside the SSM and Syndicom unions, contributes 96,000 francs a year, the Conference of Editors-in-Chief contributes 36,000 francs, and the SRG the same amount. In a tense situation in which advertising is exerting more and more pressure on editorial content, and in which media change is constantly giving rise to new questions of media ethics, the Swiss media need such a body more than ever to help them set the right focus in the 21st century, Impressum argues.

The publishers had contractually committed themselves to contributing 36,000 Swiss francs to the financing of the Swiss Press Council. Imprint is asking publishers to honor their commitment or at least to ask members to support the Press Council individually. In addition, the association should reconsider the "nonsensical decision", the message sent out on Tuesday continues. (hae)