Zurich SVP National Councilor Gregor Rutz had told Swiss radio SRF on Sunday that an initiative to halve the Serafe fee was in the works. He said there was a need for SRG, but it was doing too much in areas where private companies were active. Serafe is the fee agency for radio and TV levies.

Four years after "No Billag", the next frontal attack on media diversity is threatened by SVP exponents with the bisection initiative, says the communication of the newly founded "Alliance Pro Media Diversity on Monday. It does not matter how the initiative is formulated, he said, because, as in a chess game, whoever makes a surprising opening has an advantage.

In Switzerland, a small country with four languages, convincing news and background formats could not be financed on the market, Joachim Eder, former FDP member of the Council of States from Zug and member of the co-presidency, is quoted in the press release. The same applies to cultural reporting and in-house productions.

According to the alliance, the offerings of the SRG channels and the private radio and TV providers are particularly important for the mountain and peripheral regions. Many local newspapers have disappeared there, and this process will accelerate further after the people's "no" to the media package at the weekend.

The early position-taking is also meant to be a signal that more people will join the alliance, Mark Balsiger, executive director of the Courage Civil movement, said in the statement. The alliance will initially be active in German-speaking Switzerland. It is hoped that similar projects will be launched in other language regions, the media release said. (SDA)

The movement Courage Civil, which four years ago arose from the fight against "No Billag, positions itself on the media law. With its independent campaign, it focuses on aspects that have hardly been discussed so far: strengthening education and training in news journalism and strengthening the Press Council. "These measures are effective and important, and the costs are modest at a maximum of 28 million francs per year," says board member Anaël Jambers.

From Courage Civil's point of view, it is right that associations and foundations can send their magazines at reduced postal rates in the future. Several hundred organizations would benefit from this, from Rega to WWF. "They all contribute to the cement of our society," Jambers argues.

That in the wake of the Republic new online media is positive and strengthens media diversity. The start-up financing of 30 million francs per year is moderate and directly linked to the success with the audience. Courage Civil makes a comparison here: farmers have been receiving 2.8 billion francs a year for half an eternity; in the past, it was 3.5 to 4 billion - and no one is talking about state farmers here.

In addition, direct support for new online media is limited to seven years, he said.

On February 13, the focus will be on basic media services

The media law comprises nine different parts. From Courage Civil's point of view, not all of them are satisfactory, but in total, the solid parts clearly outweigh them. A yes vote would give local and regional newspapers seven years to adapt their business models. The new online media, in turn, would have the chance to establish themselves during this period.

The Feb. 13 vote, according to Courage Civil, is also about strengthening small independent media houses that publish newspapers like the Bieler Tagblatt, the New Fricktaler Newspaper, the Rheintaler, the Engadine Post, the Corriere del Ticino, the Valaisan messenger, the Freiburg News or the Journal Du Jura. It is precisely these media that would provide the basic media supply in Switzerland, unspectacular and close to the people.

The movement runs its campaign online and offline. It is financed by donations and membership fees.