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Media Landscape - Switzerland

INTRODUCTION

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Switzerland is a small, landlocked country in the heart of Europe. Neighbours of Switzerland are Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy, and France. Switzerland has a strategic location at the crossroads of central Europe and covers 41,290 km² for 7,476,000 inhabitants. One key feature of Switzerland is its cultural diversity. There are as many as four different official languages - German, spoken by 64 percent of the population, French (19 percent), Italian (8 percent) and Romansh (<1 percent) – which more or less define four different mentalities. The remaining 8 percent can be attributed to the languages spoken by immigrants. Foreigners account for some 20 percent of the population.

The Swiss political system is highly differentiated and complex. The principle of direct democracy applies to three different levels: federal, regional and local. Switzerland consists of 26 “cantons”, i.e. states. Each canton is divided into districts. Each district consists of a number of municipalities. All in all, there are 2,929 municipalities in Switzerland. The municipalities are in charge of, for instance, community services, electricity, water, fire brigade, police, local roads, schools, and taxes.

This multilevel system is the result of Switzerland's socio-cultural and socio-political diversity. This structure, on the one hand, creates opportunities for political articulation but, on the other hand, is also responsible for a variety of tensions among interest groups on these three levels.

The Swiss political party scene is exceptionally stable. For more than 50 years, the centre/rightwing parties (Democratic Union of the Centre SVP, Liberal Democratic Party FDP, and Christian Democratic Party CVP) have received 60 to 65 percent of the votes, while the left-wing (socialist and green) parties have drawn support from 25 to 30 percent of the voters.

Switzerland is one of the last remaining European countries that are not a member of the European Union. In May 2000, the Swiss people accepted far-reaching bilateral contracts with the EU but Switzerland’s currency remains the Swiss Franc. In March 2002, Swiss voters narrowly accepted a popular initiative making Switzerland a full member of the United Nations.


1. WRITTEN PRESS

The Swiss press is characterised by a large number of regional titles; but no national newspapers. All daily newspapers in Switzerland featuring a circulation over 100,000 copies are owned by multi-media companies. Ringier, the largest publishing company, owns the tabloid newspaper Blick (255,000 copies) and Sonntagsblick, the leading Sunday newspaper (272,000 copies or 998,000 readers).

More and more small and medium-size newspapers have been forced out of the market or have been taken over by large publishing companies. In 2005 only about 30 fully staffed daily newspapers were on the market. Furthermore, hardly any new dailies are being launched (1959 the tabloid Blick, 1989 Le Nouveau Quotidien – relaunched in 2000 as Le Temps). A new phenomenon greatly influencing the newspaper market was the launch of the free-of-charge paper 20 Minuten in 1999. The free-of-charge press has been an increasing commercial success with a large share of readership.

The regional newspaper market remains strong but is highly dependent on advertising income, providing around 75 per cent of revenues. The profitability of newspapers increasingly depends on the advertising industry as circulation is falling. Therefore, all common forms of press concentration – publisher concentration (a declining number of publishing houses), journalistic concentration (a declining number of fully staffed papers) and a concentration of circulation can be observed in Switzerland. This tendency towards concentration also leads to increasing co-operation between publishing houses in logistics and printing.

The newspaper readership, which has not varied substantially in the last decade, remains on a very high level compared to most of EU countries.


2. AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA

In the audiovisual media the public broadcaster SRG SSR idée suisse has a strong position and a special role. It has the legal right to issue licenses to broadcasting operators and to provide them with funding from licence fee resources for the production of radio (fully funded) and television (partially funded) programmes. Public service and the licence fee are thus inseparable. In return, SRG SSR idée suisse is entrusted with a special mandate to provide all linguistic regions with programmes of equal quality on a public service basis.

Apart from the licence fee revenue, Swiss broadcasting is co-financed by advertising. In 2005 SRG SSR idée suisse received 700 million EUR through license fees, while advertising (only on TV, adds on national radio are prohibited) generated a revenue of 219 million EUR. Annually, a private user pays 104 EUR license fee for radio reception and another 173 EUR for TV reception. Since the Federal Council has the final say as far as the actual amount of the license fee is concerned, there is an element of dependence in the relationship between the SRG SSR and the state.

The SRG SSR idée suisse structure reflects the fact that Switzerland is multilingual as well as multicultural. Six radio studios (Zurich, Berne, Basle, Geneva, Lausanne and Lugano) and four regional studios (Aarau, Chur, Lucerne, St. Gall) providing regional news produce 16 channels, totalling 120,745 hours of radio broadcasting annually (2005). Three television studios in Geneva, Lugano and Zurich produce six independent programmes – two for each linguistic region – as well as special programmes in the Romansch language. In addition, SF info repeats the German-language news and information programmes. In total, SRG SSR idée suisse employs 5,800 people, 43 per cent of whom are women (2005).

For the distribution of funds, there is a system of financial compensation in place which transfers money from the largest linguistic region to the two smaller ones. In order to enable the French and the Italian language regions to produce and receive programmes that are of an equally high quality as in German-speaking Switzerland, they receive an over-proportional amount of the funding.

Without cross-subsidies – as a sort of contribution to national solidarity – it would be nearly impossible to set up and maintain a full television programme in all linguistic parts of Switzerland.

In numbers, 80% of all households have access to cable TV and receive over 40 channels. 10% of all Swiss households have access to a satellite dish. 24% share of the whole advertising market goes to TV, and 57% is absorbed by print media. Radio has a share of merely 4%.

There is an ongoing digitization of the terrestrial TV. At the time being, about half of Switzerland is covered with digital signals. Complete nationwide coverage should be achieved by 2008 for television and by 2009 for radio.


3. ONLINE MEDIA

The number of people using the internet on a daily or nearly daily basis has grown from seven per cent in 1997 to 57 per cent in 2005. The typical Swiss user of the internet is well educated, well-off, young and male – digital divides are obvious and resistant. Income accounts for the biggest gap: 84 per cent of the people with a monthly income over CHF 10,000 use the internet daily, while only 24 per cent of those earning less than 4,000 CHF a month use the internet on a daily basis.

In fact, over the years, some gaps have even widened – especially with regard to age, income and education while the differences between the sexes have remained constant over the past years.

The internet is used differently by different socio-demographic groups: highly educated people use the internet in a rather instrumental way, while less educated people seem to use the internet almost exclusively for entertainment purposes.


4. DIGITAL MEDIA

Digital service is a long-term project. At the time being, about half of Switzerland is covered with digital signals. Complete nationwide coverage should be achieved by 2008 for television and by 2009 for radio.

Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is the medium-term digital extension to the FM system. It is a convergent system that permits the transmission of radio, text, pictures and data-only files of all types. Many radio stations offer internet radio.

Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB-T) allows the transmission of digital added-value services via the conventional television aerial (terrestrial broadcasting). ). It is the current standard for broadcasting digital television to households which do not have cable and to mobile receivers.


5. NEWS AGENCIES

There are two main news agencies, SDA (Schweizerische Depeschenagentur) and an AP affiliate (Associated Press). SDA, situated in Berne, is the only Swiss national agency that generates information in German, French and Italian. SDA is a publicly listed corporation owned by the Swiss publishers but in principal a non-profit organization. It is a classic news service, providing information about politics, economics, culture, social issues and miscellaneous from at home and abroad.


6. MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS

There are several organisations, syndicates, and associations for employers, journalists and media professionals.

The main employers’ organisation is the Swiss Association of Newspapers and Magazine Publishers (Swiss Press). The commercial TV Channels cooperates in Telesuisse, while commercial radio stations are associated in the Association of Swiss Private Radios. The main professional groups are the Swiss Association of Journalists (SVJ), the Swiss Journalist’s Union (Comedia) and the Swiss Syndicate of Media Professionals (SSM).


7. NATIONAL MEDIA POLICIES

Freedom of the press, radio and television is guaranteed in the Swiss Federal Constitution (Art. 16). Furthermore, article 93/4 of the Constitution, which regulates radio and television, explicitly calls for the protection of the written press. There is, however, no legal obligation for the Swiss press to fulfil a public service mandate. Newspapers - as private enterprises - are only subject to free entrepreneurial decisions and, of course, the market.

The Swiss National Television and Radio Stations have the mandate to provide a programme reflecting and maintaining the linguistic and cultural diversity of the country. The Federal Radio and Television Law (RTVG) revised in 2006 stipulates that the electronic media as a whole must contribute to the unrestricted formation of opinion, take into account the diversity of the country and its inhabitants, adequately supply all regions etc.

Within this system, at least four interest groups influence, define, and enforce the standards, norms and values of the Swiss Media Landscape. First, there are transnational actors, among which the council of Europe is of particular importance for Swiss broadcasting policy, since Switzerland is not a member of the EU. The second group is that of national authorities, mainly the Federal Government, the Federal Transportation, Communication, and Energy Department (UVEK), the Parliament, the Federal Office for Communication in Bienne (Bakom) and the Independent Authority for Programme Complaints (UBI). Thirdly, the political parties react in the media sector according to their traditional platforms. Finally, as powerful multipliers, on which politicians depend to a certain degree, media organisations can challenge or even obstruct government strategies, regulations and values they judge unfavourable to their interests. Especially the privately owned media companies are usually only willing to comply with special social, cultural or political obligations as long as the market rewards such activities.


8. ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMS

UVEK and Bakom are in charge of supervising the performance of Swiss radio and television broadcasting.

The Independent Authority for Programme Complaints (UBI) and the Ombudsman are institutionalised program-controlling and quality-ensuring authorities. Since 1984 UBI has been evaluating complaints about programming. The eleven member committee judges individual programmes according to professional norms and social values. In practice, the procedure works as follows: within 20 days of the initial transmission of a certain programme, anyone can lodge a complaint about a certain programme before the conciliation body of the broadcaster that has aired the programme (Ombudsman’s office). The Ombudsman will then investigate the matter and try to mediate between the parties. If the person lodging the complaint is still not satisfied with the Ombudsman’s findings, he or she can complain to the UBI. The complaint must be counter-signed by at least 20 people. UBI’s final decision can be challenged in the Federal Court.

The Ombudsman’s office and the UBI have to balance freedom of speech of producers and viewers, and the responsibility of electronic media to inform citizens in a reliable way.


9. CONCLUSIONS & RECENT MEDIA DEVELOPMENTS

All forms of press concentration can be observed in Switzerland, and the the trend seems to be heading towards a two-tier newspaper landscape. In addition, cross media concentration is also a fact. Big publishing houses have entered other media markets. Just to name one example, Tamedia has expanded its radio and television business in recent years and acquired commercial regional radios and a regional TV channel.

There are no private television stations on a national level. However.private TV-programmes were able to assert themselves on a regional level with a small audience and only little commercial success.

The most dramatic change on the newspaper market happened in 1999, when two free-of-charge sheets were launched (20 Minuten, Le matin blue), creating an intense competition in the press market. Since 2004, 20 Minuten is the most widely read daily newspaper in Switzerland, even surpassing the (former market leader) tabloid Blick. Since 2005, 20 Minuten is owned by Tamedia. In the first quarter of 2006, 20 Minuten managed to obtain a readership of over 1 million people which means a scope of almost 25 per cent of the total readership in Switzerland.


10. PRIME SOURCES FOR DETAILED INFORMATION

  • Meier, Werner A. (2004): Switzerland. In: M. Kelly, G. Mazzoleni, D. McQuail (eds.) The Media in Europe. The Euromedia Handbook. London 2004. S. 249-261.
  • Meier, Werner A. (2004): Das Mediensystem der Schweiz. In: Internationales Handbuch für Hörfunk und Fernsehen 2004/2005. Baden-Baden/Hamburg, S. 594-605.
  • SRG SSR Profile of SRG SSR idéesuisse 2005, Berne 2005.
  • SRG SSR Geschäftsbericht 2005, Bern 2006
  • SRG SSR Facts and Figures 2006, Berne 2006.


11. AUTHOR

Dr. Werner A. Meier is senior researcher and lecturer at the Institute for Mass Communication and Media Research (IPMZ) at the University of Zürich. He was visiting professor at the University of Salzburg (2002) and the University of Vienna (2002). His thematic priorities are Media sociology, Media policy, political economy of media industries and information society.


12. MEDIA RESOURCES

Newspapers

Audio/Visual Media

Media Institutions

Blogs/Civil Media

Excerpt from EUROPEAN MEDIA GOVERNANCE: THE NATIONAL AND REGIONAL DIMENSIONS, published by Intellect (http://www.intellectbooks.com).

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