One of the big clouds hanging over Swissinfo is lifting. Today the House of Representatives voted by 104 to 84 against abolishing federal funding for the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC)’s international mandate.
During the winter session, the Senate had already rejected the measure, which is part of the government’s “savings package 27“.
The proposal called for scrapping the annual CHF19 million ($24.4 million) contribution used to finance the SBC’s international mandate. The cut would have affected not only Swissinfo – which is financed partly by the federal budget and partly by the SBC – but also Switzerland’s contributions to TV5Monde, tvsvizzera.it and 3sat. The House of Representatives also refused to cut indirect support for the press, which includes subsidies for newspaper distribution.
In December, the SSM media union and several organisations – including the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad – submitted a petition to parliament with more than 17,000 signatures. The petition urged parliamentarians to reject the cuts, arguing that “Switzerland needs a strong voice on the international stage”.
However, not all threats facing public media have yet been averted. On Sunday, voters will decide on a popular initiative to reduce the annual SBC radio and television licence fee for households from CHF335 to CHF200 ($429 to $256) and to exempt businesses from paying it altogether. According to the latest poll released last week, the proposal will be rejected by 54%.