In particular, the central issue of direct and indirect media funding is open, writes the government council in its statement on Friday on a motion from the ranks of SP, Center, Greens, GLP, Greens and EVP.
"Any cantonal measures and instruments in this area would have to be mandatorily coordinated with national media policy or media legislation," the government council states.
He added that it was not possible to predict when reliable information and basic principles would be available on the design of any expanded federal media subsidies. The Swiss people rejected the media package in February with a No vote of 54.6 percent. In Aargau, the No vote was 60.31 percent.
Independent media
The motion demands that the canton draw up a media law. The cantonal constitution provides that the Grand Council may enact a media law "to promote the diversity of information".
The canton not only has a duty to inform itself, but it must also enable, support and promote the provision of information to the population via other, independent media service providers and channels, the motion states. The cantonal parliament had last rejected the demand for a cantonal media law in 2011.
Diverse reporting
The government council says it is aware that Aargau companies operating in the media industry also have to overcome major structural and economic challenges.
The digitization of communications is leading to a profound structural change: Advertising money has flowed away from traditional media to new forms of media such as social media, search engines and other online channels. The population also uses traditional media differently than in the past - or not at all.
Despite the fundamental changes, the classic-traditional media will continue to play an important role in regional journalism for the foreseeable future, as the government council notes.
They support national regulations that guarantee private media providers and SRG media the greatest possible independence and autonomy and, on the other hand, promote qualitatively convincing and quantitatively diverse local, regional and cantonal reporting.
The Public and Society Research Center (fög) at the University of Zurich is conducting a study or analysis of media diversity in Aargau next year. The government council is supporting this project with money from the Swisslos fund. (SDA)
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By 183 votes to 1 with two abstentions, the National Council approved the revised Swiss Code of Civil Procedure on Tuesday, May 10, 2022. The Code of Civil Procedure must be lay-friendly, said Philipp Matthias Bregy (center/VS) on behalf of the Legal Affairs Committee. The commission was guided by this in its proposals.
Correction requests failed
Sibel Arslan (Greens/BS) stated that litigation would remain unaffordable for many people seeking justice. The left and also the SVP wanted to make corrections with minority motions in order to reduce the costs even further, but were defeated throughout.
However, it was not so much the new provisions that gave rise to discussion as a provision on superprovisional injunctions to temporarily prevent unwanted media reports. Today, a court can stop a media report if it could cause a particularly serious disadvantage for the party making the request.
However, this may only be ordered if there is no obvious justification and the measure does not appear disproportionate. The Federal Council wants to specify in the article that the media report in question may cause or is causing a particularly serious disadvantage.
Focus on those affected
Both councils deleted the word "special". Thus, in addition to the other criteria, a "serious disadvantage" is sufficient as justification for ordering a precautionary measure. The National Council agreed with the Council of States. The proponents argued that the interests of those affected by the reports were at stake.
Bregy defended himself against the accusation that the commission was attacking media freedom. There is no right to destroy livelihoods with sensational stories, said Judith Bellaiche (GLP/ZH).
Red-Green would have wanted to stay in line with the Federal Council, but was defeated by 81 votes to 99. Raphaël Mahaim (Greens/VD) and Min Li Marti (SP/ZH) spoke of an attack on media freedom. The Council also rejected a motion from the SP to remove the controversial article from the bill. (sda).
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The government wants to strengthen Swiss film with an amendment to the Film Act. The National Council agreed in principle, but reduced the quota proposed by the Federal Council from 4 to 1 percent.
The majority of the WBK-S wants to follow the Federal Council, as the parliamentary services announced on Tuesday. The decision was made by 8 votes to 4 with one abstention. A minority proposes to set the tax rate at 2 percent.
The WBK-S also unanimously opposes the National Council's decision to exempt companies that operate networks or invest in networks from the obligation to invest in filmmaking. The Council of States committee has not yet completed detailed deliberations on the film law.
The Federal Council's bill also provides for the introduction of a quota for European films. As in the EU, 30 percent of the film catalog of video platforms is to be reserved for European films. (SDA)
"The media are the foundation of our democracy," said Media Minister Simonetta Sommaruga (pictured) in Bern on Wednesday. Nothing has changed in that regard, she added. But newspaper revenues were steadily declining. The Federal Council does not want to simply accept this development. It considers measures that can be implemented quickly to support the media to be sensible and necessary.
In the future, the Radio and Television Act will also support online media. Their importance is growing, Sommaruga said. The population is increasingly obtaining information on the Internet. However, the willingness to pay for digital media offerings remains low.
Money only for pay offers
The Federal Council does not want to encourage the freebie mentality any further. It therefore wants to support only paid digital offerings. Providers who sell digital media content and thus aim for longer-term financial viability are to benefit. The Federal Council assumes that this will cost 50 million francs a year. For the time being, however, online funding is to be limited in time.
Prerequisites for support include a certain proportion of editorial content, a continuous offering and compliance with journalistic standards. The editorial independence of the media will be preserved, Sommaruga emphasized in response to corresponding questions. The criteria would roughly correspond to those that apply to indirect press funding.
More indirect press promotion
Indirect press promotion consists of discounts for postal delivery, from which newspapers currently benefit. The Federal Council wants to expand these. It proposes to expand the group of eligible subscribing daily and weekly newspapers.
Specifically, the Federal Council wants to lift the existing circulation cap of 40,000 copies. In addition, titles that are part of a header association are also to benefit from a reduction in delivery. An additional 13 titles would be eligible for subsidies, Sommaruga said.
More discount per copy
In addition, the reduction per copy is to be increased so that newspapers with a small circulation also receive more support than today. This will also increase support for the local and regional press, writes the Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC).
To enable the additional funding, the federal contribution is to be increased from the current CHF 30 million to CHF 50 million. An amendment to the Postal Act is also necessary. Publishers had called for an even greater increase in the amount.
Training and news agencies
Support measures are also planned to strengthen the entire media sector. Training and further education institutions, news agencies, self-regulatory organizations and IT projects for the benefit of electronic media are to benefit from this.
A total of 27 million Swiss francs has been earmarked for this. Exactly how they will be distributed is still open. The Federal Council does not want to change anything in the framework conditions for SRG and local and regional radio and TV providers.
No new law
With this package of measures, Media Minister Sommaruga is taking a different path than her predecessor Doris Leuthard. The latter had sent a new law into consultation. The law also provided for the promotion of online offerings - but only for online media that essentially rely on audio and video content.
In this way, the Federal Council wants to protect the press from subsidized competition, Leuthard said when presenting the proposals. In any case, there was no constitutional basis for direct subsidies for newspapers - whether printed or online.
Failed in the consultation process
In the consultation process, however, the new law was not convincing. Many had pointed out the difficult situation of the press and claimed an urgent need for action, writes the Uvek. The Federal Council has now responded to the criticism and decided to provide greater support for the media on the basis of existing laws.
He wants to submit his package of measures to parliament by summer 2020. Also under discussion is the creation of a new constitutional article that would allow direct promotion of print media. Appropriate motions are pending in parliament. The Federal Council has not taken a decision on this. It wants to wait for the decisions in parliament. (SDA)
The motion of Beat Vonlanthen, a member of the Council of States for the CVP in Fribourg, wanted to further restrict the SRG, including in advertising and online offerings, in order to strengthen media diversity. Vonlanthen has now withdrawn his motion. He was convinced by the arguments of Media Minister Doris Leuthard. According to her, most of the concerns are being examined within the framework of the media law. However, according to the Federal Councillor, there is no constitutional basis for indirect press funding from the fee pot. In her statement, Leuthard also recalled that SRG was not responsible for the declining advertising revenues of the press. These would flow to the large platforms abroad.
Wait for new media law
Also off the table is a proposal by Géraldine Savary (SP/VD), SP member of the Council of States for Vaud. She wanted to commission an additional report on the financial support of the Keystone-SDA agency. She said that the staff cuts at Keystone-SDA were once again "endangering media diversity, independence, and ultimately the entire journalism profession. Savary nevertheless withdrew her postulate. She was satisfied with the answer of the Federal Council, according to which the creation of a legal basis to be able to support news agencies is being examined as part of the development of the new law on electronic media. The consultation draft is to be presented soon.
Prologue to the actual debate
The almost hour-long debate in the Council of States gave a foretaste of this legislative project. Various speakers did not focus on the proposals on the agenda, but marked out the terrain in terms of media policy. Once again, it became clear how far the ideas of the various political camps diverge. The central question is how far the state should interfere in private-sector processes. The leftists argue that the media crisis should be countered at least somewhat with federal money, while the conservative parties want to stay out of it for the most part. (SDA)