Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2012 main findings Imhof, Kurt Other titles: The Quality of the Media Suisse Svizzera Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-168474 Published Research Report Originally published at: Imhof, Kurt (2012). main findings. Basel: Schwabe AG. Yearbook 2012 The Quality of the Media Main findings Switzerland fög / University of Zurich The Jahrbuch Qualität der Medien (Yearbook “The Quality of the Media”) is a publication in German of Schwabe Publishers Basel. To order this Yearbook please use the attached form or go to any bookshop. Excerpts from the Yearbook are available on the Internet: www.qualitaet-der-medien.ch. Copyright © 2012 Schwabe AG, Publishers, Basel, Switzerland, and fög – Forschungsbereich Öffentlichkeit und Gesellschaft/University of Zurich Translation: Syntax Translations Ltd., Zurich www.syntax.ch Design: Thomas Lutz, Schwabe Production: Schwabe AG, Printing House, Muttenz/Basel, Switzerland ISBN 978-3-7965-2905-4 [email protected] www.foeg.uzh.ch www.schwabeverlag.ch 1 Yearbook 2012: The Quality of the Media – Switzerland What is the purpose of the Yearbook? Bank Julius Bär, Credit Suisse Foundation, Hotel Bel- The aim of the Yearbook is to improve awareness of levue Palace Berne; Paul Schiller Stiftung, Prof. Otto quality of the media. It will be a resource for people Beisheim Stiftung, Partner Reinsurance Europe Lim- working in the media, those involved in politics, busi- ited (PartnerRe), Schweizerische Mobiliar Versiche- ness or academia and anyone with an interest in media rungsgesellschaft AG, Schweizerische Post, Stiftung für trends and what the media are saying. The Yearbook is Gesellschaft, Kultur und Presse – Schweiz, Stiftung based on the understanding that the quality of dem- Qualitätsjournalismus Ostschweiz, Swiss Re, Vontobel- ocracy depends on the quality of the information com- Stiftung, Zürcher Kantonalbank and various indi- municated to the public by the media. The Yearbook vidual donors. will provide the public with a benchmark for deciding Contributions for the Stiftung Öffentlichkeit und the kind of journalism they wish to be exposed to, and Gesellschaft can be transferred using the following the media makers with a benchmark for the kind of bank details: ZKB Zurich-Oerlikon – Account No.: journalism they want to produce and assume responsi- 1100-1997.531 – Bank Postal Account: 80-151-4, IBAN: bility for. Politicians will gain a feel for how the media CH28 0070 0110 0019 9753 1, Bank Clearing No. 700, world is developing and the resources available for SWIFT: ZKBKCHZZ80A. information-based journalism in Switzerland. Where is the Yearbook published? Who is responsible for the Yearbook? The Yearbook is published by Schwabe Publishers in The Yearbook is produced and published by the fög – hardcopy form (ISBN 978-3-7965-2776-0) and as an the Center for Research on the Public Sphere and online version (ISBN 978-3-7965-2856-9). The results Society at the University of Zurich (www.foeg.uzh.ch). can also be accessed on the Internet (www.qualitaet- The following authors have contributed to the Year- der-medien.ch). The fög regularly publishes further book 2012: Urs Christen, Mark Eisenegger, Patrik research on this platform. Ettinger, Angelo Gisler, Lucie Hauser, Florent Hey- worth, Kurt Imhof, Esther Kamber, Jens Lucht, Contact Johannes Raabe, Michael Schanne (guest writer), fög – Forschungsbereich Öffentlichkeit Mario Schranz, Annina Stoffel (guest writer), Peter und Gesellschaft / University of Zurich Studer (guest writer), Linards Udris, Vinzenz Wyss Andreasstrasse 15 (guest writer). CH-8050 Zurich Phone +41 44 635 21 11 Who provides funding and support Fax +41 44 635 21 01 for the Yearbook? E-mail: [email protected] The Yearbook is financed by the non-profit Stiftung Öffentlichkeit und Gesellschaft (Foundation for the Public Sphere and Society – www.oeffentlichkeit.ch). The Board of Trustees is made up of Christine Egerszegi-Obrist, Kurt Imhof, Yves Kugelmann and Oswald Sigg. The foundation owes the funding for the project to the following donors: Adolf und Mary Mil Stiftung, Allianz Suisse, Allreal Holding AG, Anne Frank Fonds Basel, 2 1. Quality of the Media Yearbook 2012 – a summary of the key points If, to get a feel for some of the main insights in this nalistic practice within the media is being eroded Yearbook, one were first to consider the short period (1.3 Concentration and new business models). covered by investigation years 2010 and 2011 for This journalistic tradition of a self-imposed commit- purposes of comparison, it would be quite clear that ment to a kind of journalism which maintains profes- the information media were more concerned with sional and ethical standards has never really gained relevant hard news during 2011 than in the previous currency within private broadcasting. In terms of the year. The deepening crisis affecting the global economy, radio and TV offerings covered, no significant differ- the upheaval in the Arab world and the elections in ences emerged with regard to the quality of the infor- Switzerland were all features of a news year which mation-based journalism – between providers which posed a major challenge to journalism. Any gains in hold a concession, receive fees and are expected to pro- relevance, however, must be seen against the tendency vide some public service output and those which are to provide less context (1.1 Greater relevance and less simply registered and are subject to no public service context). requirements. Similarly, providers with higher adver- Taking a somewhat longer-term view, there is evidence tising revenue do not provide better quality informa- since the start of the new millennium that the Swiss tion-based journalism than those with far lower adver- media scene is becoming more fragmented and strati- tising revenue and corresponding resources (1.4 Lack fied in a downwards direction: a polarity is emerging of self-imposed journalistic commitment within pri- between higher-quality media for elite groups and vate broadcasting). low-quality media for the mass of the population, as There is an erosion or lack of self-imposed commit- well as a similar gulf between older and younger age ment to journalistic quality and this, along with busi- groups. During this short time span, the free media ness models which prefer economies of scale to quality have turned tabloid-style journalism from a rather and diversity and sacrifice journalistic independence in circumscribed and limited phenomenon into the jour- favour of integrating media-related and non-media- nalistic mainstream. And this mainstream is neither related value creation chains, is combining to change left- nor right-leaning; it mainly consists of episodic news agendas, something which is also illustrated in the journalism and soft news and favours coverage of those in-depth studies in this Yearbook: the study entitled actors who fit this profile (1.2 Downwards stratifica- “Swiss media during the election campaign. Quality of tion and fragmentation). media reporting before the federal elections of 2011” Not only, but mainly since the crisis affecting the trad- shows, among other things, that the Federal Council itional business model for information-based journal- elections, which had long attracted less attention than ism erupted as a result of a slump in advertising rev- the national parliament elections, were starting to enue and proceeds from sales, the Swiss media scene make up ground on the federal elections in terms of has witnessed an intensive process of concentration, media coverage thanks to the intense level of personal- with austerity measures and the development of new isation involved. The in-depth study entitled “Online business models the order of the day. These business news – a direct comparison between the quality of models favour economies of scale and look to reduce press and online outlets” refers to the significant gap in diversity by either encouraging growth and/or trans- quality between print and online media: with the forming journalism through the use of non-media- exception of free newspapers, the kind of quality prom- related value creation chains, whereby media are used ised by the print brands does not materialise online. In as sales and marketing channels in their own right. The addition, the in-depth study entitled “Crime reporting tradition of a self-imposed commitment to good jour- in the Swiss press” shows that political campaigns tend 3 Revolution in Libya Parliamentary elections 2011 Tsunami: nuclear power plant disaster in Japan Euro stability pact Revolution in Egypt Swiss energy policy Federal Council elections 2011 Economic trends in Switzerland Conflict in Syria Strauss-Kahn sex scandal Massacre on Utøya / Breivik KVG health reform Infinite Justice / War on terror Exchange rate policy: strength of Swiss franc UBS: crisis management Abduction of twins Alessia and Livia Middle East conflict Asylum Act: actual practice Revolution in Tunisia Blick Girls/Star 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%12% 14%16% 18%20% Press Radio TV Online Diagram 1: Media agenda in Switzerland The diagram shows the 20 biggest communication events (CE) in the Swiss media arena. The bars show the average share of reporting on each CE for the individual media forms. Data set used: All news stories on the top 20 CEs from the analysis of front page and lead stories for the period from 1 Jan- uary to 31 December 2011 (n = 12,826). Interpretation example: The revolution in Libya as a communication event received the most attention (position 1) in the Swiss media arena during the period under investigation. 18.5% of reporting was devoted to this CE. The news stories within the press form accounted for 13.8% of the reporting for this communication event. to intensify crime reporting across the media, with ported media policy measures in place to prevent this violent and sexual offences being significantly over- happening (1.6 What needs to be done?).