Chapter 9. Switzerland: Highly Concentrated Leading News Media
Chapter 9 Switzerland Highly concentrated leading news media in austerity and downsizing mode Heinz Bonfadelli & Werner A. Meier, in collaboration with Michael Schanne Introduction Switzerland, a small, landlocked country in the centre of Europe, enjoys a remarkably long and continuous tradition of independence, stability, and political neutrality. In early 2020, the Switzerland’s population was 8.6 mil- lion residents, about 25 per cent of which were foreigners. Consequently, one key characteristic of this country is its cultural diversity. There are four official languages – German (primary spoken language of 62% of the population in 2018), French (23%), Italian (8%), and Rhaeto-Romanic (0.5%), which more or less also define the land’s four different cultural mentalities. Therefore, issues related to the integration of a big and heterogeneous group of immigrants, and new refugees, often become a controversial topic in the politics of the country. Politically, Switzerland is considered a semi-direct democracy with strong fed- eralism in addition to a high degree of autonomy in its 26 cantons and nearly 2,200 communities. Freedom in the World 2021: status “free” (Score: 96/100, stable since 2017). In 2020, Switzerland ranked 12th among 210 countries for its political rights and civil liberties (Freedom House, 2021). Liberal Democracy Index 2020: Switzerland is placed in the Top 10% bracket – rank 5 of measured countries (Varieties of Democracy Institute, 2021). Freedom of Expression Index 2018: rank 1 of measured countries, up from 4 in 2016 (Varieties of Democracy Institute, 2017, 2019). 2020 World Press Freedom Index: rank 8 of 180 countries, down from 6 in 2019 (Reporters Without Borders, 2020).
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