Less diversity and more tabloid in Swiss media
2020 Media Quality Rating: According to a study, consolidation in the Swiss media industry and the creation of large central newsrooms in recent years have led to a decline in media diversity. In regional reporting, the study found that while coverage did not become more uniform, there was a clear trend toward more tabloid-style journalism.
The loss of diversity is accentuated by the multiple use of contributions in network systems, the Stifterverein Medienqualität Schweiz announced on Monday. It had the consequences of concentration examined as part of an in-depth study for the 2020 media quality rating.
The study measured the concentration of media content based on the proportion of shared articles in the years 2017 to 2019. At Tamedia-Verlag, which includes the Tages-Anzeiger and The Covenant the share rose from 16 to 37 percent. At CH Media (Aargauer newspaper, St. Galler Tagblatt, Lucerne Newspaper), the share rose from 12 to 20 percent.
More tabloid in the regional section
According to the study, regional reporting remained independent in both network systems. However, there were changes in the mix of topics covered in regional reporting.
There is less reporting on politics, business, culture and sport, while "soft news-driven human interest reporting" is on the rise, it said.
Radio programs lead rating
The SRF radio and television programs "Echo der Zeit" and "Rendez-vous" were at the top of the quality rating list, followed by "10vor10". Among the daily and online newspapers, the New Zurich Newspaper and Nzz.ch the best ratings.
The titles of the two large network systems were largely in the mid-range and upper mid-range. At the lower end of the quality scale were the tabloid and commuter titles View, Blick.ch and 20 minutes.
The quality rating took into account the quality of reporting based on scientific criteria and a survey on the perception of quality. (SDA)
