“Don’t oversleep digitization”
Publisher boss demands slimmed-down media funding
The new publisher president Andrea Masüger has spoken out in favor of an ancillary copyright and a new edition of media funding. He considers the accusation that the media had missed out on digitization to be a “regulars’ claim”.
“Stammtisch assertion”: The media had not overslept the digitization, says publisher President Andrea Masüger. (archive image)
The first annual goal of the Swiss Media Association (VSM) is to help the ancillary copyright to achieve a breakthrough. This is what Masüger said in his first presidential speech at the association’s epiphany conference on Wednesday in Zurich.
Such a right should oblige international corporations to pay a fee to Swiss media for the distribution of their journalistic content. The Federal Council intends to submit a proposal for consultation in the near future.
Masüger named a “slimmed-down new edition of media funding” as the second annual goal. This after the electorate had sent the media law bachelor. He has a new edition in mind that should also enable small and medium-sized companies to switch to digital. Masüger is convinced that the Swiss media have mastered the digital transformation well. The claim that they had overslept the digitization is “an old regulars’ table argument”.
Andrea Masüger was elected the new association president last September. He has been the Delegate of the Board of Directors of Bündner Somedia since 2018. Before that, he was CEO of the media company for eight years and editor-in-chief of “Bündner Zeitung”/”Südostschweiz” for a total of 17 years.
(SDA)