French-speaking Swiss radio violates program law during pre-election broadcast
Published: Thursday, Jun 27th 2024, 21:00
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The Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (UBI) has upheld a complaint against a broadcast by Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) before the second round of the Council of States elections in Geneva. This was announced following its public consultation on Thursday.
In its evening information program "Forum", Radio RTS held a debate with four of the six candidates standing for election ten days before the second round of voting on November 12. One candidate from the "Liberté - Le Peuple d'abord" list who was not considered complained.
The UBI found that the exclusion gave the impression that there were only four candidates. The two candidates on the "Liberté" list were not mentioned at all. This violated the information principles of program law, according to which increased journalistic due diligence must apply in the sensitive period before elections.
According to the UBI, the fact that the two candidates were mentioned elsewhere in the radio program did not change this. The UBI reached its decision unanimously. It rejected four other complaints. UBI decisions can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
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