Media “focus on entertainment over news”
The Swiss media tends to prioritise entertainment over news, according to a report into the country’s media released by Zurich University on Thursday.
It found that disasters, football and scandals dominated reporting in 2010 – ahead of the Swiss diplomatic spat with Libya, cabinet elections and the UBS tax crisis.
The report into media quality in Switzerland is the second of its kind, with last year’s inaugural study causing a furore after it suggested that the popularity of news websites and free newspapers was eroding journalistic standards.
This year’s reporting was more entertainment-focused than last year, the researchers said, with “soft news” stories making up around a third of output. Free newspapers and tabloids came especially under fire.
Culture did not often make it onto the top news agenda, nor did many international political and economic issues – with the exception of the European Union stability pact and the Middle East.
Overall, the media was reaching fewer people, observed the researchers.
The yearbook 2011 “Media Quality – Switzerland” was compiled by the Centre for Research on the Public Sphere and Society at Zurich University. It looked into 142 media outlets.
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