Published
SuisseTowards uniform support for all media, whatever their form
The Federal Media Commission (COFEM) proposes to grant aid to all private media regardless of their category.
Newspapers, radio, TV and journalistic websites should receive uniform aid, according to the report.
DR
We must help the press in Switzerland. After the rejection by the people on February 13 of a “package of measures in favor of the media”, the Federal Media Commission (COFEM) considers that support remains essential. But she proposes to completely change the system. Exit the currently preferential postal rates for the distribution of newspapers in the morning or the share of the license fee for radios and televisions. She wants to move to a “technology-neutral” system, she says in a report released Tuesday.
Clearly, it wants to support all private media in a uniform way, regardless of their category or distribution channel. So all content, whether printed, streamed, or distributed as text, video, or audio would be housed in the same boat.
digital world
“This approach takes into account the new realities of production, distribution and use of the digital world,” say the experts. These would also leave it up to the media companies to decide which mode of distribution is most likely to reach the population. This solution would make all private media eligible for aid, as long as they target the general public and voluntarily commit to respecting the industry’s self-regulation, they point out.
For COFEM, “sufficient funding for journalism can no longer be provided only partially by the market in Switzerland, due to digitization. His report highlights the decline in media diversity over the past 25 years. However, “in a federal and multilingual country, direct democracy cannot function without the journalistic media”, she believes.
“We are convinced that in Switzerland, given the difficult economic situation, especially for regional and local media, it is necessary to support with public funds not only the SSR, but also private journalistic content providers”, according to Commission President Anna Jobin. “Such a change requires adaptations of the law. In addition, transitional measures are necessary for the media which already benefit from aid”, she acknowledges. The amount of subsidies must also be the subject of political negotiations.
(cht)
