The Federal Council is more open than other governments

In the Federal Palace there used to be the “journalist’s room” on the ground floor, a room with a round table, a newspaper rack and a bulletin board. Every now and then a Federal Councilor came there to announce his resignation. But the rule in the 1950s and 1960s was that after the weekly Federal Council meeting, Chancellor Charles Oser would pin a note on the bulletin board that said: “Nothing to report today.” Since the majority of newspapers at that time were still party papers, journalists used to meet with federal councilors of the same party stripe in the café to find out more. They weren’t allowed to quote anyone.

The Federal Councilors hardly addressed the media, preferring instead to speak directly to the people. They spoke at party conferences, public meetings and federal festivals. It was only Walter Buser, as Vice Chancellor, who introduced regular media orientations in the 1970s. Since then, the Swiss government’s relations with the media have intensified: Federal Council members give interviews, appear on programs such as “Arena” or “Infrarouge”, appear at press conferences and have their media representatives answer additional questions from media people. But the government also communicates beyond journalism: with websites, brochures, video messages, the “Bundesbüchlein”, radio speeches before referendums and via social media.

The question therefore arises: How media-friendly is the Federal Council? This can be measured by four criteria: firstly, by his attitude to media freedom. Secondly, his attitude towards media funding. Thirdly, his willingness to attend media conferences. And fourthly, his openness to journalistic questions (during research, in interviews).

The Federal Council has always upheld the media freedom enshrined in the constitution. No media minister, nor any other member of the highest executive branch, has ever questioned the principle. The Federal Council also supported the expansion of press freedom in the banking sector, which the Council of States prevented. The government is somewhat less resolute in its support of media funding; She doesn’t want to inject too much money and hopes that the industry will help itself.

80 to 100 media conferences per year

How often does the Federal Council face the media? After every Federal Council meeting, which takes place on Wednesdays, individual Federal Council members come to the Federal Media Center to explain the most important decisions made to journalists under the leadership of the Vice Chancellor and Federal Council spokesman Andrea Arcidiacono. This elevator also exists after federal referendums.

The media people experience the federal ministers directly, authentically, and they can ask them questions. Sometimes they do this really stubbornly. You have the opportunity to do this more than 40 times a year. Media conferences take place around 40 times every year in which Federal Council members present their department’s proposals or launch voting campaigns. All of these media conferences will be broadcast live via video. This means the population can follow how the exchange between the government and the media takes place.

80 to 100 media conferences per year: How does the Swiss government compare internationally? It can keep up, in fact it is ultimately more media-friendly than the governments of the USA, Great Britain, Germany and France and similarly media-friendly as the governments of Austria and Italy. It matters whether a country has a tradition of “political centered news management” (parliament has priority) or “media centered news management” (the media has priority).

Primacy of Parliament: Prototype Great Britain

The classic example of the primacy of parliament is Great Britain. The Prime Minister speaks every Wednesday in Question Time in the House of Commons, but rarely in front of the media. The 470 lobby journalists have the opportunity to question the Prime Minister’s Spokesman twice a day, but not the Prime Minister himself. Ministers also tend to behave in such a way that they announce important innovations in front of the House of Commons rather than in front of the media.

Similarly, in Germany, the Chancellor appears in front of the Bundestag for a “government questioning,” but practically never appears at the federal press conference. There are three government press conferences a week in Berlin for the 700 journalists at the Federal Press Conference, which – unique in the world – are led by a journalist. However, only the media spokespersons for the Chancellor and the ministries are present there, and ministers only appear very rarely.

Even in France, the Prime Minister is seen more often in front of the National Assembly than in front of the media. And the French president is making himself particularly rare when it comes to media appearances. Emmanuel Macron only gave four media conferences in seven years in office (excluding appearances after state visits and international conferences) – just as few as his Gaullist predecessors Jacques Chirac (four media conferences in twelve years) and Nicolas Sarkozy (three in five years) and unlike the founder of the Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle, who celebrated 17 media conferences during his ten years in office. In France there is also a video broadcast of a “Compte rendu” from the government spokeswoman after every Council of Ministers meeting, but the media people do not meet ministers there.

Media primacy: Prototype USA

The classic example of the primacy of the media is the USA. The media people in the White House receive daily briefings from the president’s media spokeswoman, often several times a day. However, you see the president himself in different cadence. Joe Biden only held an annual average of 9.9 media conferences, while Donald Trump held 22 and Barack Obama 20.4. The most frugal were Richard Nixon with 7 and Ronald Reagan with 5.8 annual media conferences.

The members of Parliament, however, only see the President in their midst once a year (for the State of the Union message) and are never able to question him at all. Italy, Austria and Switzerland have developed similarly: the media are the first to find out about government decisions, well before members of parliament. In Italy, media information has intensified under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

After every Council of Ministers meeting, individual ministers appear before the media in the Palazzo Chigi, and Giorgia Meloni is often there too. These conferences will be broadcast via video. In Austria, too, after the weekly Council of Ministers, individual ministers provide information to the media in the “press foyer”. However, the Federal Chancellor and Vice Chancellor are only present in special cases. In addition, there are another 10 to 15 media conferences in Vienna every week at which ministers appear.

Conclusion: In Switzerland, similar to Austria and Italy, journalists have a guarantee that they can officially see members of the government on a regular basis and ask them questions. In the USA, Great Britain, Germany and France they do not have this guarantee.

Different willingness to speak depending on the situation

The fourth question remains: How willing are government members to give interviews and allow research? Across countries, ministers practically offer interviews when things are going well for them and avoid interviews when they are in a crisis. In Great Britain it is common for the Prime Minister, but also other ministers, to gather lobby journalists around them to give them background information, which they are not allowed to quote directly.

Such background circles also exist in Germany, although they are somewhat less pronounced in Berlin than in Bonn. Everyone gives interviews, and the members of the government and their media managers think carefully about which newspapers and which programs are a suitable platform for them. This is what Swiss federal councilors say from time to time in programs such as “Samstagsrundschau”, in Germany you can find ministers on “Maischberger”, “Markus Lanz” or “Caren Miosga”. In France, political actors are almost constantly on all channels.

In France, Austria and Italy, relationships between media people and political leaders are already close. They dine together in the restaurant and also meet privately to discuss political issues. In Vienna we speak of “Verhaberung” (an old Jewish word for cronyism), in Paris of “connivence”, in Rome we know the “giornalista dimezzato”, who is divided between his journalistic mission and the allegiance to a political sponsor. In Switzerland, professional distance is maintained better than it was a few decades ago, despite the manageability and first-name culture.

Roger Blum is Emeritus Professor of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Bern. From 2008 to 2015 he was President of UBI.