[Swprograms] SWISSINFO ONLINE SERVICE TO BE CUT TO BONE

[Glenn Hauser <wghauser@xxxxxxxxx>]

** SWITZERLAND. SWISSINFO ONLINE SERVICE TO BE CUT TO BONE 
   swissinfo   March 22, 2005 4:51 PM
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=107&sid=5619527

Armin Walpin (left) and Jean-Bernard Münch explain their plans (swissinfo)

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) says it will axe up to 80 jobs and
eight language services at swissinfo, leaving only a reduced English
department.

The corporation?s board said on Tuesday that it was acting in response to the
government's decision to end funding for swissinfo. The cuts should result in
annual savings of SFr16 million ($13.6 million) a year.

The Council of the Swiss Abroad ? the organisation representing the 
interests of more than 600,000 Swiss living abroad ? condemned the move, which
comes one year after a previous round of restructuring.

swissinfo?s 120 employees were informed about the decision at a meeting with
SBC President Jean-Bernard Münch, SBC Director General Armin Walpen and
swissinfo Director Beat Witschi in Bern on Tuesday.

The restructuring is expected to result in between 70 and 80 job losses. Most
of the remaining posts will consist of IT and web development staff.

The employees? union, SSM, said it would fight the plans, which are expected to
be implemented by the end of 2006 at the latest.

The Bern-based news and information platform was launched in 1999 as the
internet arm of Swiss Radio International. It is available in nine 
languages: English, German, French, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese,
Chinese and Japanese.

Reduced service

The English service is the only one to be retained, although it will be reduced
in size. The SBC?s president and director were not able to say when the other
language services would be cut.

Internet services in the national languages ? German, French and Italian ? will
continue to be produced by SBC?s regional units.

The SBC said it would try to reassign as many staff as possible to other parts
of its operations, and that workers facing redundancy would be offered a "good
social plan".

swissinfo/Swiss Radio International cut 26 jobs last year after losing its
government subsidy. On October 30 radio broadcasts were ended, allowing
swissinfo to concentrate exclusively on internet journalism.

The Council of the Swiss Abroad said it was "unacceptable" to dismantle
swissinfo before a planned new radio and television law had come into force. It
said swissinfo must be guaranteed sufficient resources to secure its future.

The SSM said that if the plans were implemented it would mean the end of Swiss
Radio International and its successor, swissinfo. Although the SBC and
parliament recognised the value of swissinfo as the "voice of Switzerland
abroad", nobody wanted to pay for this public service, the union said.

Swiss Radio International was founded in 1934, and broadcast round the world on
shortwave ? and later also satellite ? for 70 years.

+ Virtually identical story at:
http://www.nzz.ch/2005/03/22/eng/article5619527.html
(via Artie Bigley, DXLD)



		
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