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The Tickle File is ftm's daily column of media news, complimenting the feature articles on major media issues. Tickle File items point out media happenings, from the oh-so serious to the not-so serious, that should not escape notice...in a shorter, more informal format.
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German domestic audiences, it is likely, will no longer find traditional access next year to the country’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW). There is a budget discussion taking place and, as DW is funded through a Federal grant rather than the household license fee, a slice of its services will almost certainly be cut. "We will not proceed with the lawn mower method and shorten everything a little, but want to proceed strategically," said director general Peter Limbourg, quoted by Die Zeit (March 17). Priorities are shifting, like elsewhere, from linear to digital.
DW’s operating grant this year is €406.5 million through which it provides global coverage in 32 languages, including recently expanded service to Ukraine, the Baltics and the Russian Federation. DG Limbourg wants to save €2.5 million by eliminating domestic German distribution. "It's very painful, but I see the constraints of politics,” he added in a presentation to the DW broadcasting council. Sports coverage will see a noticeable budget reduction, language services not so much.
“We had a situation a year and a half ago: A further expansion of Deutsche Welle was agreed in the coalition (government) agreement,” he said to Tagesspiegel (March 24). “We made our plans and then came the Russian war of aggression. It changed everything, in terms of our spending, but also in terms of federal budget planning.” (See more about international broadcasting here)
The dynamics for international media providers, Herr Limbourg explained, are continuing to evolve. “It's hard for us to say that we're leaving everything as it is, especially when we see that our programs are in high demand in Russia or that usage is increasing despite censorship in Iran. The situation in and around Ukraine, Iran, Turkey… we can't just do business as usual. At the same time, we have to continue our digital transformation for long-term security, which is a priority not only for DW, but for media companies as a whole.”
Big news does not respect convention. It happens when it happens. News outlets are compelled to adjust... and work weekends
It goes without saying that the collapse and rescue of large bank Credit Suisse - with all the details - was big news in Switzerland. From Friday through Sunday night and into Monday, Swiss news outlets shuffled schedules and staffs to report it all. Of course, most of the action took place over the weekend, sacrosanct in Switzerland. Even the bank chief executives appearing live on TV for more than an hour Sunday night looked very put upon.
Swiss-German public broadcaster SRF went to the extreme and commenced its evening news show Tagesschau “two minutes earlier,” noted Swiss-German media news portal Klein Report (March 20). Reporters and anchors who are rarely, if ever, seen on the weekends were called into service. Roundtable discussions with various experts were organized. The TV chyron scrolled “Tremors on the financial center.” Nearly all Swiss news portals are paywall restricted. Tabloid Blick is an exception and its live-stream coverage generally railed about the Federal Council bail-out. (See more about journalism here)
Swiss media reluctantly covered the Swiss Secrets tax evasion scandal, originally reported about a year ago by Bavarian news outlet Süddeutsche Zeitung with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). Swiss law prohibits news outlets from reporting “confidential bank data,” meaning any of it.
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