Uncertain future for swissinfo’s international offering on the issue on 2-20 March 2026. On 8 March, the Swiss will also be voting on the SVP’s SRG SSR initiative aiming to lower significantly the media tax – the second source of financing for swissinfo. SVP National Councillor for Valais Jean-Luc Addor, member of the Swiss Abroad parliamentary group, sits on the initiative committee. In his view, the foreign mandate forms part of SRG SSR’s “fundamental mission”. A year ago, he told “Swiss Review”: “Hands off swissinfo.” A spokeswoman confirmed in response to an enquiry that this was the committee’s position: “The offer is part of SRG SSR’s public service mandate. It should stay that way.” Opponents warn, however, that the initiative would leave only an “amputated” public service behind. The OSA also fears negative consequences for news for the “Fifth Switzerland”. swissinfo director Larissa Bieler believes that the foreign mandate “has been a quintessential bridge between the Swiss Abroad and their homeland since 1935”. Without this offer, Switzerland would lose visibility and understanding internationally. The announcement in November that Bieler would be leaving the SRG SSR management at the end of March 2026 made people sit up and take notice. SRG SSR justified this measure by saying that the management board was being streamlined as part of the austerity measures. (SWE) When political decisions deprive SRG SSR of money, this also affects its international offers: swissinfo, tvsvizzera.it and partnerships with broadcasters like TV5MONDE for the French-speaking world or 3sat for German-speaking areas. swissinfo reports news about Switzerland in ten languages internationally and in 2001 became the successor of the legendary Swiss Radio International. Just like the “Swiss Review” published by the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), the platform targets the over 826,000 Swiss people living abroad. swissinfo furthermore sees itself as the “voice of Switzerland in the world”. However, the Swiss government is planning to scrap the annual federal contribution of just under 19 million Swiss francs to the foreign programming mandate as part of a savings package. Until now, SRG SSR and the Confederation have shared the cost of this, but the Confederation plans to bow out from 2027. This means that swissinfo in its current form is in jeopardy. Various organisations, including OSA, have submitted a petition asking parliament to safeguard federal funding arguing that swissinfo is a balanced, multilingual information source for the Swiss Abroad that strengthens their political rights. The Council of States, the small parliamentary chamber, defied the government during the 2025 winter session and came out in favour of maintaining the federal contribution. A narrow majority felt that Switzerland could not afford to give up this window to the world. Proponents of abolishing the contribution argued that information about Switzerland is now also available from other sources. If SRG SSR wants to maintain its current foreign offer, it must “reallocate” resources, according to Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter. The National Council, the large chamber, will vote the news for Ticino about to be produced in Zurich? The initiative’s sponsors see these warnings as exaggerated. The basic media offer for minorities is not in jeopardy, as the initiative would leave the financial redistribution intact, according to the “yes” committee. Programmes of “the same high value” will still be possible. “Shared media space” Media scientist Ulla Autenrieth sees the “structural reality”, however: in Switzerland, public service content is created not for a homogeneous national market but for multiple audiences differentiated by their language, culture and region: “Something that benefits from an economy of scale in other countries needs to be produced multiple times for us.” With so much less money, SRG SSR would be forced to reduce its offer. “But the idea of a shared media space depends on diversity,” she says. Notwithstanding fragmented use of media, the need for shared points of reference remains, according to Autenrieth. Younger people want reliable content, as do parents for their children, research has shown. Public broadcasting could play to its key strengths here by going where the interest is: “Many young people consume SRG SSR content via play platforms, social media or podcasts.” Any contemporary public service must be digital and flexible. Shared media experiences today no longer arise from one single “campfire”, but in many forms, from live events like the Women’s European Championships in football last year to collaborative formats. If SRG SSR takes this reasoning seriously, it could continue to act to bring people together. This article reflects the situation at the time of our editorial deadline on 18 December. Additional archive photos relating to SRG SSR are available in our online edition: www.revue.ch swissinfo is currently available in ten different languages, including Spanish. Whether it remains that way depends heavily on what the politicians decide. Photo: Roman Häfliger Swiss Review / February 2026 / No.1 7
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