Coronavirus brings existential threat to Swiss press, despite more readers
A journalist scrum around health minister Alain Berset following a coronavirus news conference.
Keystone / Peter Klaunzer
The Swiss media has seen a spike in readership and audiences due to the coronavirus pandemic, but at the same time, revenues from advertisers have shrunk.
This content was published on
2 minutes
I like getting to know people. My interests are politics, refugee issues and national minorities. I was trained as a radio journalist. I previously worked in radio in the Jura region, then at Swissinfo until 2020. Today I work as a freelance journalist.
Switzerland has many faces, and each has many stories to tell. I am interested in the country in all its diversity. I write about agriculture and banks, diplomats and folk-style wrestlers, but also industrial excellence and cultural achievements.
The drop in income has forced many private media companies to introduce short-time work for their staff, effectively lowering salaries by reducing working hours. This has led to newspapers cutting back on the number of sections produced – in some cases no longer publishing local news, while TV and radio stations are broadcasting limited programming.
In French-speaking Switzerland, the Fribourg daily La Liberté is now only publishing two sections, instead of the usual four, while some radio stations in the western Jura region have implemented a reduced programming schedule usually reserved for the slow summer months.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
The Tamedia group, which owns numerous newspapers throughout the country, has also introduced short-time working. This measure is contested by journalists who feel that the conditions for short-time working are not being met since the workload has remained the same.
Publishers have also been under pressure from journalists and politicians who have called on them to offer coronavirus-related news to the entire population free of charge, arguing that this is a public health issue: in order to fight the pandemic effectively, every inhabitant should have access to reliable, independent and quality information.
Zurich-based Neue Zürcher ZeitungExternal link and Tages-AnzeigerExternal link (Tamedia group) have rejected this appeal, insisting that they must maintain their paywalls and subscription service at a time of drastically falling advertising revenues. But other newspapers, such as the German-language WOZExternal link, and Geneva daily Le TempsExternal link, as well as the French-language newspapers of the ESH GroupExternal link are offering unrestricted online access to their coronavirus-related articles.
Both unions and media owners have demanded financial support.
More
More
Coronavirus: the situation in Switzerland
This content was published on
An overview of the latest Covid-related information in the Alpine nation.
Swiss price watchdog slams excessive prices for generic medicines
This content was published on
The cheapest generic medicines available in Switzerland are more than twice as expensive as in other countries, according to a study by the Swiss price watchdog.
Nature should not figure in net zero calculations: academic study
This content was published on
The natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by forests or oceans should not be included in the net-zero balance of climate protection measures, argue researchers.
This content was published on
None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.
This content was published on
Nestlé's new CEO Laurent Freixe, has presented plans for the future of the world's largest food company, after his first few weeks in office.
Swiss foreign minister calls on Moscow to end Ukraine war
This content was published on
It's high time Moscow ended its war against Ukraine, Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis tells the UN Security Council.
This content was published on
The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.
Study reveals food culture differences between Switzerland and neighbours
This content was published on
Three-quarters of Swiss people consider eating to be a pleasurable, social activity, a new survey reveals. Healthy eating, however, plays a much less important role, it found.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.