Yesterday, Swiss citizens voted by a clear majority to support independent, high-quality journalism and a strong public broadcasting system. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Swiss affiliates, syndicom and impressum, in welcoming the rejection of the “SBC Initiative” which sought to reduce the annual media licence fee for the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC).
Put to a vote on 8 March, the right-wing Swiss People’s Party proposed to cap the annual household licence fee for SBC to 200 Swiss francs (222€) instead of 335 Swiss francs (372€), with businesses becoming exempt. This would have led to drastic job cuts and the loss of reliable sources of information, posing a threat to democratic values of media pluralism and independence. Both the government and all other political parties opposed the initiative, which was rejected by 62% of voters.
“Journalism is our profession, but it is also an essential public good for our democratic political system. It is a joy to see the citizens’ recognition of this profession and its values,” said impressum co-president Fabienne Sennhauser.
Stephanie Vonarburg, head of the media sector and vice-president of syndicom, added: “This decision places obligations on all stakeholders. Those who want credible journalism as a bulwark against disinformation and fake news must also enable it, with stable funding and good working conditions.”
This proposal comes after a series of threats to Swiss media pluralism. In 2018, the “NoBillag” initiative planned to scrap the licence fee in public service broadcasting and prohibit any kind of subsidies for the Swiss public service broadcasting sector. This initiative was also met with overwhelming opposition from Swiss voters, 71% of which voted against it.
On 24 November last year, the Federal Council presented its plan to gradually reduce the annual fee to 300 Swiss francs (333€) and cut 900 full-time positions by 2029. The EFJ, together with impressum and syndicom, strongly denounced this proposal. They hope that this clear show of public support for SCB’s funding will send a decisive signal to policymakers to abandon their plan to reduce the annual licence fee.
“Across Europe, public broadcasting is under attack, with some politicians seeking by all means to weaken its funding. The Swiss people’s vote sends a hopeful signal: it shows how much citizens value their public broadcaster, whose role is to provide professional and independent information, and that this essential public service depends on sustainable funding. The Swiss licence fee must no longer be called into question,” said EFJ Director Renate Schroeder.
Source: EFJ
