The Committee of Ministers at the Council of Europe adopted on 7th of March the Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)1[1] of the Committee of Ministers to member States on media pluralism and transparency of media ownership
After the Declaration on the role of community media in promoting social cohesion and intercultural dialogue which was adopted in 2009, this is the first recommendation referring to the role of Community media regarding media pluralism and media literacy.
In its preamble, the Declaration says:
9. Independent and sustainable public service and not-for-profit community media can serve as . By virtue of their remit and organisation, public service media are particularly suited to address the informational needs and interests of all sections of society, as is true of community media in respect of their constituent users.
Furthermore:
2.11. States should encourage and support the establishment and functioning of minority, regional, local and not-for-profit community media, including by providing financial mechanisms to foster their development. Such independent media give a voice to communities and individuals on topics relevant to their needs and interests, and are thus instrumental in creating public exposure for issues that may not be represented in the mainstream media and in facilitating inclusive and participatory processes of dialogue within and across communities and at regional and local levels.
regarding media literacy:
5.4. States should encourage all media, without interfering with their editorial independence, to promote media literacy through policies, strategies and activities. Public service media and community media can play leading roles in promoting media literacy by virtue of their objectives, mandates and working methods. States should also promote media literacy through support schemes for media, taking into account the particular roles of public service media and community media.
CMFE contributed as an observer to the working group which developed the text of the recommendation. There is a new working group which started this week to develop a recommendation on promoting a favourable environment for quality journalism in the digital age and a study on a possible standard-setting instrument on the promotion of media and information literacy in the digital environment. Nadia Bellardi from CMFE was nominated as an expert for this committee and was elected as rapporteur.
The Council of Europe publication entitled “Spaces of Inclusion – An explorative study on needs of refugees and migrants in the domain of media communication and on responses by community media” has been prepared by experts of the COMMIT Community Media Institute in Austria. It was
presented by COMMIT at the final “Media against Hate” workshop in Brussels on 5 and 6 March.
The role played by media in framing the public debate on migration, with often divisive narratives that focus on the threats that refugees and migrants can pose to the security, welfare and cultures of European societies, has attracted much attention in political and academic circles. Ongoing efforts to properly equip and prepare journalists for the challenging task of contextualised and evidence-based reporting on this complex topic are essential. It is equally vital, however, to ensure that sufficient opportunities are provided to migrants and refugees themselves to develop their independent voices and make them heard in public debate.
Based on individual interviews, the qualitative study explores the media habits and particular needs of refugees and migrants in the domain of media communication. Good practice examples show how community media can meet these needs by offering training and spaces for self-representation, and by offering points of entry into local networks. Community media and their bottom-up approach to content production also contribute to a multilingual media environment that reflects the diversity of European societies and includes marginalised communities as respected part of audiences.
March 4, 2018. UNIKOM, the Union of non-commercial radios in Switzerland, has acknowledged with great relief the result of the national vote rejecting the NoBillag-initiative. UNIKOM remains committed to ensuring that minorities have platforms for communication and self-expression and that they are empowered to use such platforms.
“The vote is also a recognition of the work of thousands of volunteers across Switzerland during more than 30 years.”, commented UNIKOM President Lukas Weiss. Nine of the seventeen local, non-commercial radios members of UNIKOM operate through a license and would have been directly endangered by the NoBillag-initiative.
UNIKOM radios receive around 5 million Swiss Francs per year from the license fees, which amounts to 1.40 Francs per year per household (1.20 Euro per year per household). Board member and campaign coordinator Salvatore Pittà added: “As UNIKOM community radios are free of advertising, the contributions from the license fee amount to around 58% of our yearly budget. The acceptance of the initiative would have impacted our operations badly and forced us to massively reduce production and training activities.”
Challenges ahead
The licenses and the corresponding portion of the license fee from which community radios in Switzerland benefit today are directly linked to program transmission via FM. The FM switch-off in Switzerland will take place in only a couple of years. “This means that we will be facing new challenges” points out UNIKOM President Lukas Weiss. “Today’s voting outcome gives us a clear mandate from Swiss citizens to ensure that minorities continue to have access and are empowered to use platforms for communication and self-expression.”
For more information, please contact:
Lukas Weiss, President UNIKOM: Tel. +41 (0) 79 373 22 33, president@unikomradios.ch
Salvatore Pittà, Board member UNIKOM: Tel. +41 (0) 76 606 77 00, salvatore.pitta@stadtfilter.ch
The community media sector is defined by Swiss media law as ‘complementary’ to public service and private broadcasting. Its main tasks are to provide open access to media production facilities and training, to produce local, diverse and complementary cultural content and to operate on a non-profit basis. Thousands of volunteers, including citizens with a migrant background and with disabilities, are actively involved in production and management of UNIKOM radio stations. Programs are aired in more than 30 languages and give space to local news, music, culture and sports coverage. They experiment with new formats and offer specific intercultural, multilingual trainings for media producers of all ages.
Freedom of information at risk through the NoBillag-initiative
February 14th, 2018. On March 4th Swiss citizens will decide through a national vote whether to abolish the media reception fee, previously collected through the company Billag (hence the initiative’s name “NoBillag”). The current Swiss media system is comprised of public service, private and community media, each sector with its specific functions and roles. The abolition of the national media reception fee would result in the loss of reliable sources of information and put democratic values at risk.
In a country characterized by great linguistic and cultural diversity, public service media operated by SRG SSR not only guarantees access to information in all 4 national languages (Swiss German, French, Italian and Romansh) but also ensures social cohesion and a sense of shared national identity. Public service media, through its online, digital and terrestrial distribution channels RSI, RTR, RTS, SRF and SWI, provides reliable news and quality journalism. Its mission is also to produce educational content and entertainment, to safeguard freedom of information and to enable the development of an informed public sphere, as required by Article 93, paragraph 2 of the Swiss Federal Constitution. Should the NoBillag initiative pass, precisely this article would be eliminated, thus undermining the fundamental right to freedom of expression and information of Swiss citizens. Last but not least, accessibility of information for citizens with visual, hearing or cognitive impairments is also guaranteed by public service media, whose main programs and news are subtitled and available as audio-description.
The yearly media reception fee does not only fund public service, but also 34 local TV and radio stations distributed across all 4 language regions. Of these, 9 radio stations are federated in the national association UNIKOM – Union of non-commercial radios – and fulfil the functions of community media. The sector is defined by Article 36 of the Swiss broadcast law (RTVG) as ‘complementary’ to public service and private broadcasting. Its main tasks are to provide open access to media production facilities and training, to produce local, diverse and complementary cultural content and to operate on a non-profit basis. Thousands of volunteers, including citizens with a migrant background, are actively involved in production and management of UNIKOM radio stations, with programs aired in more than 25 languages and with specific intercultural, multilingual training formats in place.
The Swiss media system has been a model for democratic countries. Thanks to its dedicated funding, public service broadcasting can provide stable professional opportunities and working conditions to journalists, artists, musicians and film makers and support a vibrant cultural sector. Local and non-commercial broadcasting would not survive without the financial contributions it receives today. The consequences of abolishing such a model would endanger diversity, pluralism and freedom of information and would make Switzerland the only European country without public service media.
On Saturday, February 3rd several Swiss radio and TV studios opened their doors to the public to explain how they work and why it’s important to reject the NoBillag initiative. The following European media organizations wish to express their full support to Swiss colleagues across all sectors, unions, schools and universities: AMARC Europe (World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters), Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE), European Broadcasting Union (EBU), European Federation of Journalists (EFJ).
EBU Director General Noel Curran said: “As people’s trust in social media platforms declines and as the spread of fake news and misinformation grows online, public service media is a source of independent information and debate. Trust levels for public service media, particularly on TV and Radio, are increasing. We should do all we can to ensure that public service broadcasting in Switzerland continues to provide an independent, diverse voice in an increasingly complex and divisive world.”
“Local, non-commercial radios serve and involve those members of society that are less represented in the mainstream, bringing their viewpoints into public discourse.” commented Michael Nicolai, President of AMARC Europe.
“Community media are essential for a pluralistic media landscape, in Switzerland and elsewhere. We hope to see Swiss community radios continue to fulfil their important societal functions: support of non-mainstream arts & culture, inclusion of minorities and marginalized communities, as well as commitment to intercultural integration.”, added Judith Purkarthofer, President of CMFE.
Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, President of the European Federation of Journalists, said: “Public service media is ever more important in a media eco-system that increasingly reduces its capacity to provide quality pluralistic information. Often public service media is the only place left for investigative programs. We need public service media and must make sure that it remains or – in some countries – becomes free from political and commercial pressures.”
References – Council of Europe:
► The role of Public Service Media (2017)
► Declaration on the role of community media in promoting social cohesion and intercultural dialogue (2009)
For further information, please contact:
Nadia Bellardi, on behalf of CMFE, nadia.bellardi@icloud.com, +41 79 3061648
Claire Rainford, EBU, rainford@ebu.ch, +41 22 717 2321
Camille Petit, EFJ, camille@europeanjournalists.org, +32 2 235 22 00
The official Conference on Migration and Media Awareness 2017 video and photos are now available, together with other documentation on their website.
The Conference on Migration and Media Awareness 2017 was the first ever dialogue of Media Practitioners, Policy Makers, Activists and Newcomers (Refugees/Migrants).
The CMMA 2017 is a two-day conference jointly organized by Refugee Radio Awareness Network, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Radio e.V and Kampnagel Internationale Kulturfabrik.
It convenes approximately 250 participants to engage in discussions with key stakeholders (policymakers, educators, social workers, activists, bloggers, journalist, and representatives of communities) around the importance of social empowerment and participation. Our attention will turn to current issues such as Refugeeism, Migrantism, Mainstreamism and the negative media narrative.
presented by COMMIT at the final “Media against Hate” workshop in Brussels on 5 and 6 March.