No Billag campaign: an opportunity for the press to reinvent itself

The «No Billag» initiative, extreme as it is, has had the merit of raising some interesting questions about the media in Switzerland, the most important of which is: do we want to finance state-run radio and TV channels? The democratic debate that has taken place is only the beginning - we hope - of a broader discussion about public service missions and journalism in Switzerland.

In addition to the fundamental issue of the role of the state in relation to information, this obviously raises the question of journalism in general. One question among many: why should radio and television benefit from a national structure, financed by a tax on citizens, but not the written press?

We've heard it said, perhaps too often, that the traditional media are in danger in French-speaking Switzerland, as publishers face economic diversification and the press is by no means their main priority. One of the consequences of this situation is staff cutbacks, a rule to which the French-speaking press is not subject. Le Temps, is no exception. What's more, advertising is gradually moving away from newspapers and onto the Web, threatening their funding.

However, economic change has always existed, merely as a receptacle for societal evolution, or sometimes as an anticipator or even instigator of it. The new state of the print media should be seen not as a burden, but as a challenge. This attitude is difficult, to be sure; but it is indispensable. Let's not bemoan the preponderance of the Internet; let's embrace it. Let's not obsess over information; let's add reflection. Let's not reduce the amount of work we do; let's quadruple it. Let's not seek buzz at the expense of a demanding treatment of culture and the debate of ideas; let's strive to show their importance.

Graduate in philosophy and journalist by profession, Jonas Follonier is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Regard Libre. Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

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