Geneva, Feb. 14 (BNA): Swiss voters have rejected a government plan to pump more than 150 million francs (about $163 million) into the print and visual media each year, including subsidizing the early morning delivery of newspapers and online media. 70 million francs (nearly $76 million) a year, according to opinion polls.
The public broadcaster SRF reported that 56% of voters rejected this measure.
Opponents of the plan, which Swiss lawmakers approved in June, collected enough signatures in a petition to bring the issue to the public, part of a special form of democracy in Switzerland that gives voters in the country of 8.5 million people a direct say. in policy making.
Opponents of the plan argued that the cash injection would waste taxpayer money, benefit the major newspaper chains and the media who run them, and harm the independence of the press by making the media more dependent on state subsidies and thus less likely to criticize government officials. They also said it was discriminatory, because free newspapers wouldn’t benefit from it.
“The state-backed media is media under control. As the saying goes: ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,'” wrote opponents who lobbied for the referendum. Together they say large print media groups collected more than 300 million profits in 2020, even while COVID-19 crisis.
Several other countries in Europe and beyond are providing subsidies to newspapers with postage reductions, tax breaks and other measures, the AP reports.
Critical injection proponents argued that journalism, especially in local areas not served by large media groups, should be considered a public service, as were many public radio and television stations in Switzerland and around Europe.
Media groups are struggling to survive. Ad revenue for the print press has not stopped falling or is being swallowed up by giants like Facebook and Google, and subscriptions are not enough,” the Swiss Green Party, which supported the measure, argued before the vote.
Supporters said more than 70 newspapers have disappeared since 2003. Advertising revenue for all publications fell 42% between 2016 and 2020 in Switzerland.