Die Debatte um den öffentlichen Rundfunk in der Schweiz: Mit „NoBillag“ gegen das gesellschaftliche Solidaritätsprinzip

Abstract

Hardly any other political referendum in recent years has caused such a stir in Switzerland as the citizens` initiative “NoBillag” to abolish mandatory licence fees for its public service broadcaster. The public debate on this issue was characterised by a large number of participating actors, including those from civil society. The impetus of the initiators stemmed from libertarian ideas and was superficially in tune with the prevailing zeitgeist. However, the unusually long duration of the public debate finally made clear to the voters the argumentative weaknesses and radical societal consequences of this political undertaking. As an essential learning, it should be noted that in future it will no longer be sufficient to be supported by institutionalised political forces during media policy debates about the further development of public broadcasting, but that it also must be possible to reach actors of civil society with valid and qualified arguments. For this, elaborate media competence will be indispensable.