SWITZERLAND

Expert assessment: appointing directors of public media

The claim that the director general of the Swiss Broadcasting Company (SRG) was elected in a strictly confidential procedure is not accurate. The position was publicly advertised and the new director general of the SRG was elected by the independent national board of directors and Assembly of Delegates of the SRG. It is true that the nominating committee of the board of directors was responsible for seeking potential candidates and selecting the number of candidates to a short list: This part of the procedure was confidential in order to protect the privacy of candidates. It is also true that the latest appointment might have stirred complaints from some quarters that the selection process was influenced by politics, but in truth those complaints seem to be politically motivated, while the process has proven to have been fair and transparent.

The SRG is a private association and thus autonomous when it comes to its internal organisation and the appointment of its personnel. However, its Articles of Association need to be approved by the Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication (DETEC). The appointment of the director general is thus an independent matter within the SRG. The procedure for electing the director general of the SRG is neither strictly confidential nor are politicians involved. The procedure conducted in the case of Roger de Weck was carried out exactly according to the procedures as proscribed by law: The director general of the SRG is nominated by the national board of directors64 after a search by a nominating committee comprised of four members of the board of directors.65 Then the nomination is authorised by the Assembly of Delegates.66 The appointment of Roger de Weck was as follows:

• The board of directors made a publicly announcement about the executive search in September 2009;
• the job was publicly advertised by SRG in October 2009;67 a company specialised in executive search was then tasked with looking for candidates (this phase was confidential);
• from January to March 2010 the nominating committee selected two candidates (this phase was confidential);
• the board of directors discussed the two candidates in April 2010 and eventually nominated a candidate who was then confirmed by the Assembly of Delegates in May 2010.

The director general manages the SRG and is responsible for the business operations of the organization.68 The director general heads the executive board (senior management) which also comprises four regional directors. Switzerland consists of different language-regions; public radio and TV channels operate in each of these language-regions, and each language-region has its own enterprise unit, headed by a regional director. This means that the director general heads the national office but is not involved in the daily operations of the different public channels on the level of language-regions. The director general does, however, retain the right to issue single instructions regarding programming matters in the SRG's interest.69

The national board of directors is comprised of nine members, two of whom are appointed by the Federal Council (the Government). The four chairmen of the four regional councils (regional boards of directors at the level of language-regions) are also board members. The chairman of the national board of directors and two additional members are elected by the Assembly of Delegates, the highest body of the SRG composed of 41 delegates from the four different language regions.70

Members of the board of directors are not bound to any instructions by the Government.71 The SRG by law has the obligation to organise itself in a way that guarantees its autonomy and independence from the state and from social, economic and political groupings.72 Neither the Assembly of Delegates nor the board of directors can be directly influenced by the Government, Parliament or political parties.

In the case of Mr. de Weck's appointment in 2009, some politicians claimed that the board of directors consulted the media minister before making a decision. This accusation was firmly denied by both the SRG and the media minister and there has been no indication at all that Government was somehow involved in the appointment. In fact, it would appear that any controversy over the appointment was stirred by members of the right-wing SVP party, which did not want to see Mr. de Weck chosen for the position.

63 See "Criticism 9" in "Criticisms and answers formulated on the subject of the proposed media act examined in a European context," Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, December 20, 2010 available at: http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-public-administration-and-justice/news/criticisms-and-answers-formulated-on-the-subject-of-the-proposed-media-act-examined-in-a-european-context.
64 SRG Standing Orders Article 10(1), available in German at: http://www.srgssr.ch/fileadmin/pdfs/Organisationsreglement%20SRG%20SSR.pdf.
65 SRG Standing Orders Art. 3(1)(4), available at: http://www.srgssr.ch/fileadmin/pdfs/Organisationsreglement%20SRG%20SSR.pdf.
66 SRG Articles of Association, Article 6(2)(a), available in German at: http://www.srgssr.ch/fileadmin/pdfs/Statuten_srg_240409_de.pdf.
67 SRG (2009a). Job Posting for new Director-General, available in German at: http://www.srgssr.ch/fileadmin/pdfs/Projektbeschreibung%20Executive-Search%20SRG-GeneraldirektorIn.pdf.
68 SRG License, Article 23(3), available in German at: http://www.srgssr.ch/fileadmin/pdfs/Konzession_srg_281109_de.pdf; SRG Articles of Association, Articles 10(2)(f) and 13(1), available at: http://www.srgssr.ch/fileadmin/pdfs/Statuten_srg_240409_de.pdf; SRG Standing Orders Art. 19(1), available in German at: http://www.srgssr.ch/fileadmin/pdfs/Organisationsreglement%20SRG%20SSR.pdf.
69 SRG Standing Orders, Article 19(1)(7), available in German at: http://www.srgssr.ch/fileadmin/pdfs/Organisationsreglement%20SRG%20SSR.pdf.
70 Federal Act on Radio and Television of 2006 (RTVA), Article 33 available at: http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/784_40/a33.html; SRG License Art. 23(1) and 24, available in German at: http://www.srgssr.ch/fileadmin/pdfs/Konzession_srg_281109_de.pdf; SRG Articles of Association Art. 5, 6(1) and 9, available in German at: http://www.srgssr.ch/fileadmin/pdfs/Statuten_srg_240409_de.pdf.
71 Federal Act on Radio and Television of 2006 (RTVA), Article 33(3), available at: http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/784_40/a33.html.
72 Federal Act on Radio and Television of 2006 (RTVA), Article 31(1)(a), available at: http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/784_40/a31.html.