Switzerland’s media industry is set to receive a financial boost after a last-ditch effort to block federal subsidies failed to gather enough support, reported RTS.
A group opposed to the aid package, which was approved by Parliament in March 2025, admitted it could not meet the required 50,000 signatures by the 10 July deadline. A spokesperson for the initiative told RTS that they left their run too late. By the time we realised the law had passed, it was already late—but we felt it was too important not to try, he said.
Support from political parties was thin. With Swiss policymakers focused on weightier matters—delicate negotiations with the European Union in particular—media subsidies failed to grab the attention of party leaders.
The initiative’s backers argued that the expanded aid violated the spirit of a 2022 referendum, in which voters rejected a broader package of media subsidies. They criticised supporting an outdated model, fearing hundreds of millions would be sunk into a fading industry.
Starting in 2026, Swiss media will receive CHF 35 million annually in indirect support, mainly through postal discounts—on top of an existing CHF 30 million.
However, the support is not indefinite. The programme will expire after seven years. During that time, publishers will need to adapt. Although it is not clear how. In the digital age, when everyone is reporting much the same news, a free alternative is only a few clicks away. In addition, digital platforms have grabbed much of the advertising revenue that supported publishers. Large Language Models such as ChatGPT will likely further upend digital advertising. Finding new revenue models will be a challenge, especially for smaller regional publishers. It is likely that many will eventually die.
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RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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