The campaign in favour of the initiative has been formally launched. The organisers’ central argument is cost. The proposal, which would cut Switzerland’s radio and television licence fee from CHF 355 per household to CHF 200 a year, will be put to a vote on March 8th.
Consumers must be relieved of the financial burden, said Thomas Matter, a National Councillor from the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) and one of the initiative’s leading proponents. He argued that reducing what he called the world’s highest broadcasting fee was justified at a time when households are struggling with rising rents and health-insurance premiums. A lower fee, he said, would leave citizens with more money.
Financial relief is also the committee’s main argument for businesses. The initiative’s supporters complain of double taxation of entrepreneurs, claiming that licence fees paid by firms reduce funds available for investment, training and continuing education. Heinz Theiler, a National Councillor from PLR/FDP, cited the example of a car garage with high turnover but thin margins that nonetheless faces a substantial levy—a small company with turnover of 500,000 to 1,000,000 world currently pay CHF 365. A large company with revenue more than CHF 1 billion would pay the maximum fee of CHF 49,925.
The committee also maintains that media diversity has never been greater, thanks to a proliferation of online outlets. Younger people, it argues, are forced to pay for services they rarely use, despite having limited means while in education.
The initiative, launched by members of the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), would reduce the annual household levy from CHF 335 to CHF 200 and abolish the corporate fee altogether.
Both parliament and the Federal Council oppose the proposal. Opponents warn that Switzerland’s public broadcaster would lose around half of its licence-fee income if the initiative were approved, with particularly severe consequences for peripheral regions and linguistic minorities.
The government has already offered concessions. By decree, it has decided to lower the household levy to CHF 300 a year and, from 2027, to exempt around four-fifths of VAT-registered firms from the fee. As a result, the broadcaster expects to receive CHF 120m less—current fee revenue is around CHF 1.3b.
The public broadcaster also faces persistent accusations of political bias. Critics, especially on the right, argue that it leans to the left. Some evidence lends weight to the claim. On a left–right self-placement scale from 0 to 10, Swiss journalists average 4.02, according to a study by Zurich University of Applied Sciences. The tilt is slightly more pronounced in French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland.
One explanation lies in journalists’ backgrounds. They overwhelmingly follow the academic track, attending Gymnasium and university, rather than vocational routes. Compared with the population at large, they are more likely to have studied humanities subjects such as history, political science, sociology, law, languages and philosophy. These disciplines emphasise argument, interpretation and analysis of social structures—skills well suited to reporting, but also more likely to attract students with left-leaning views.
By contrast, fields such as economics, business, engineering or the natural sciences are less common, except among specialist reporters. The imbalance matters. Journalists tend to focus on moral and political questions rather than technical or quantitative ones, and are often more comfortable criticising the outcomes of economic systems than they are understanding and analysing how they work. This can create blind spots around incentives, trade-offs and unintended consequences, leading to dysfunctional policies suggestions aimed at well identified problems.
Whether public broadcasters are more biased than private media is harder to establish. Much depends on the audience an outlet serves—and on perception. Some media organisations cater to the preconceptions of their paying customers. And what one reader regards as a statement of fact, another might dismiss as error or bias.
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