Contents -- 1 Preface 11 -- 1.1 The catalyst for this research 11 -- 1.2 Acknowledgements 12 -- 2 Introduction 14 -- 2.1 Utopia versus reality - high ideals versus hard facts 14 -- 2.2 A starting point: Roger Blum's pronouncement onSwiss journalism 16 -- 2.3 The framework of the thesis 17 -- 2.4 Design of the thesis 20 -- 2.5 The standpoint of the author 25 -- 3 The Meanings of Censorship 27 -- 3.1 A weapon of power 27 -- 3.2 Comprehending the term "censorship" 28 -- 3.3 The origin and development of authoritarian censorship 33 -- 3.4 Censorship in today's democratic constitutional state 38 -- 3.5 Switzerland is no exception 50 -- 4 The Origins and Evolution of Media Freedomin Switzerland 65 -- 4.1 A hard-won quality 65 -- 4.2 The emergence into an intellectual modern agethrough the "Helvetia" 66 -- 4.3 Freedom of the press as a new quality 67 -- 4.4 Searching for the new state 68 -- 4.5 The development of the freedom of the press in thenew federal state 71 -- 4.6 Freedom of the press - a valuable quality 72 -- 4.7 The Federal Constitution of 1999 76 -- 5 Media and Democracy Today 79 -- 5.1 No state within a state 79 -- 5.2 The role of the media in a democracy 80 -- 5.3 The importance of the media in the communicationof information 84 -- 5.4 Have the media taken over the function of the politicalparties? 86 -- 5.5 The media-friendly politician 88 -- 5.6 PR methods of marketing personalities 89 -- 5.7 Media friendliness and election successes 91 -- 5.8 Consensus democracy and the diminishing consensus 93 -- 5.9 The media and the abuse of power 93 -- 6 International Obligations and the Freedomof the Media in Switzerland 98 -- 6.1 Dissent and conformity 98 -- 6.2 The UNO Agreement 100 -- 6.3 The International Covenant on Civiland Political Rights 101 -- 6.4 The International Convention onRacial Discrimination 102.

6.5 The European Convention on Human Rights 103 -- 6.6 The Swiss Federal Supreme Court restrainedby the ECHR 104 -- 7 National Standards 109 -- 7.1 The Swiss Federal Constitution 109 -- 7.2 The Swiss Penal Code 115 -- 7.3 The Swiss Civil Code 118 -- 7.4 The Federal Law on Unfair Competition 119 -- 7.5 The Law on Radio and Television (LRTV) 120 -- 7.6 The Swiss Press Council 121 -- 7.7 The Declaration of theDuties and Rights of the Journalist 125 -- 8 The Secretiveness of the Military 127 -- 8.1 Under special protection 127 -- 8.2 The media in the sights of military justice 128 -- 8.3 The army's deaf ears 131 -- 8.4 Unchanged practices 134 -- 8.5 Criticism without results 136 -- 8.6 Military justice as a disciplinary institution 137 -- 9 Media Organisations and Journalists' Associations 139 -- 9.1 An unprotected area 139 -- 9.2 Impressum and Comedia 140 -- 9.3 The professional register ("BR") 141 -- 9.4 Privileges 142 -- 9.5 The press card 143 -- 9.6 Further services 144 -- 9.7 A difficult position vis-à-vis employers 145 -- 9.8 Everyday examples 146 -- 9.9 At the publishers' mercy 149 -- 9.10 The campaign for a new Collective Agreement 150 -- 9.11 The Declaration of the Duties andRights of a Journalist and the Federal Diploma 152 -- 9.12 A society striving for quality 153 -- 10 Education and training in journalism 156 -- 10.1 Specialised professional training as a core element 156 -- 10.2 A shift of emphasis from talent to training 157 -- 10.3 No more academics 159 -- 10.4 Academic background 160 -- 10.5 Basic training 161 -- 10.6 Advanced training 167 -- 10.7 The status quo in the editorial office 169 -- 11 Print Media 172 -- 11.1 A nation of newspaper readers 172 -- 11.2 A democratic structure requires regional newspapers 174 -- 11.3 From party to forum newspaper 175 -- 11.4 The great newspaper demise 176 -- 11.5 Mergers and expansion 179.

11.6 The power of the market 181 -- 11.7 The monopoly situation within the dailynewspaper market 181 -- 11.8 The Bern model - an exception 183 -- 11.9 The consequences for journalism and journalists 184 -- 11.10 Regionalisation and localisation 185 -- 11.11 Freesheets 187 -- 11.12 Political rescue efforts 188 -- 12 Radio and Television 190 -- 12.1 Swiss radio - a success story 190 -- 12.2 The predominance of Swiss television SRG SSR 191 -- 12.3 A national monopoly 192 -- 12.4 Radio and television under theSwiss Federal Constitution 194 -- 12.5 The Law on Radio and Television 195 -- 12.6 The key points of the new LRTV 198 -- 12.7 Private radio and television stations 200 -- 12.8 A journalistic challenge 204 -- 12.9 The programme orientation of the private channels 205 -- 13 The Internet - progressing by fits and starts 208 -- 13.1 Round-the-clock presence 208 -- 13.2 Ideal technical conditions 210 -- 13.3 High user figures 211 -- 13.4 The players 212 -- 13.5 Online editorial departments with a limited scope 213 -- 13.6 The status of online editorial departments 217 -- 13.7 Quality not yet assured 219 -- 13.8 Further developments 220 -- 13.9 Weblogs as competition or enhancement? 222 -- 13.10 Weblogs as watchdogs 223 -- 13.11 The weblogs of the established media 225 -- 13.12 Instrumentalisation and lack of impact 226 -- 14 The Power of Advertising 228 -- 14.1 The media as commercial enterprises 228 -- 14.2 Advertising boycotts to penalise the media 230 -- 14.3 The Federal Cartel Commission and the "boycott" 231 -- 14.4 Other forms of "punishment" 232 -- 14.5 Political reasons for punitive measures 233 -- 14.6 Anticipatory obedience and grovelling ingratiation 234 -- 14.7 Interwoven connections 236 -- 14.8 Gifts and concessions 238 -- 14.9 Publicity as a weapon against boycotts and pressure 241 -- 14.10 Spoon-feeding the media 242.

15 Playing with the Truth 244 -- 15.1 Economic necessity 244 -- 15.2 "Mid-risk journalism" 246 -- 15.3 Borderline journalism and the descent into fabrication 247 -- 15.4 The Kummer case 248 -- 15.5 The Wolffers case 250 -- 15.6 Limited self-criticism by editors 251 -- 15.7 The danger of making assumptions 253 -- 15.8 Seduced by prestige and money 256 -- 15.9 Pictures can also be deceptive 257 -- 16 Self-censorship and blind obedience 259 -- 16.1 Subtle pressure 259 -- 16.2 Critical proximity 261 -- 16.3 Sleaze 263 -- 16.4 Gentle coercion 264 -- 16.5 Blatant threats 267 -- 16.6 When the scissors are used 268 -- 16.7 No chance to fight back 270 -- 16.8 Military-style management in the editorial offices 273 -- 17 The Failure of Media Journalism 275 -- 17.1 A blind spot 275 -- 17.2 The example of the Tages-Anzeiger 276 -- 17.3 Media journalism for insiders 278 -- 17.4 Relevance from the point of view of the general public 280 -- 17.5 Quality and self-regulation 281 -- 17.6 A service rather than a form of communication 282 -- 17.7 In the company's own interests 283 -- 17.8 Media journalism as PR journalism 285 -- 17.9 Journalists with their hands tied 285 -- 17.10 The exclusion of media scientists 287 -- 17.11 Media blogs as an alternative? 288 -- 18 Conclusion 290 -- 18.1 Open borders for the media 290 -- 18.2 Findings 292 -- 18.3 Recommendations 301 -- 19 Appendices 307 -- 19.1 Appendix 1: Facts and Figuresabout Switzerland 2006 307 -- 19.2 Appendix 2: Composition of theSwiss Federal Assembly 308 -- 19.3 Appendix 3: Advertisement Statistics -Revenue per Medium 311 -- 19.4 Appendix 4: Newspapers andCirculation Figures 1939 − 2004 312 -- 19.5 Appendix 5: Readership of the Swiss Press 2005 313 -- 19.6 Appendix 6: Declaration of the Duties and Rightsof a Journalist 314.

19.7 Appendix 7: Directives Relating to theDeclaration of the Duties and Rights of the Journalist 317 -- 19.8 Appendix 8: The Seven DominantSwiss Media Corporations 327 -- 20 Bibliography and References 330 -- 20.1 Literature 330 -- 20.2 Periodicals (newspapers, news magazines,special interest publications and internet) 344 -- 20.3 Speeches and contributions for conferences 355 -- 20.4 Official or approved papers and sources 356.