SWI swissinfo.ch

SWI swissinfo.ch
description	News and information platform
Area of ​​Expertise	Information on current events and topics related to Switzerland
language	German, French, Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese
First edition	1999
Editor-in-chief	Larissa Bieler
Manager	Larissa Bieler
Web link	www.swissinfo.ch

SWI swissinfo.ch is produced in this SRG SSR building on Giacomettistrasse in Bern

SWI swissinfo.ch (also: swissinfo.ch for short ) is a public news and information platform in Switzerland . It provides information on current topics and events in ten languages. In terms of content, the main focus is on information on Switzerland. Independent information from the fields of politics, economy, culture, science and education as well as on the subject of " direct democracy " have top priority . The target audience are foreigners interested in Switzerland and the Swiss abroad.

Development of the company

SWI swissinfo.ch emerged from Schweizer Radio International (SRI) or Radio Schweiz International , a corporate unit of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG (now SRG SSR ) for foreign countries. It was founded in 1935 and was tasked with informing the Swiss abroad about events in Switzerland and promoting Switzerland's presence abroad. Originally, radio programs were broadcast over shortwave and later over satellites. In 1999, the first version was published on the Internet swissinfo.org . In 2001, the service was renamed swissinfo / SRI and at the end of October 2004, after the radio programs had been discontinued as a result of austerity measures by the federal government, it was renamed swissinfo .

When the website went into operation in 1999, the service was activated in German, French, English and Portuguese. A year later, the pages in Japanese, Italian and Spanish followed, on February 1, 2001 those in Arabic and in September of the same year the page in Chinese. Russian followed in 2013 as the tenth language, now on swissinfo.ch .

On March 21, 2005, the SRG Board of Directors decided to massively reduce swissinfo . According to his ideas, only a reduced offer should be produced in English in the future and the service should be integrated with Schweizer Radio DRS (now SRG SSR). Only specific information for the Swiss abroad should be produced in the national languages. A journalist would have been responsible for this offer, which would have been produced in a corporate unit of SRF. The decision sparked critical reactions from the readers, and the Foreign Affairs Commission of the National Council also spoke out against it. The supervisory authority, the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) and the Federal Council subsequently decided in the summer of 2007 to give swissinfo a new service mandate with a further nine language editors. On January 23, 2014, the service was renamed SWI swissinfo.ch .

On January 1, 2008, Peter Schibli, who holds a doctorate in law, succeeded Christoph Heri as editor-in-chief of swissinfo . On October 22, 2008, at the suggestion of the swissinfo committee , the SRG Board of Directors elected Peter Schibli to succeed Beat Witschi as the new director. The new editor-in-chief from November 2008 to February 2015 was Christophe Giovannini, the previous head of the English-language editorial team. Larissa Bieler , previously editor-in-chief of Bündner Tagblatt , has been the new editor-in-chief since January 1, 2016 . Since October 1, 2018, she has also been director, succeeding Peter Schibli. Today, SWI swissinfo.ch has around 100 employees from 14 nations.

Editorial offer

Swissinfo pilot test in Russian with Swissinfo director Peter Schibli (left) and Ambassador Igor Borissowitsch Bratschikow (far right)

In terms of content, the focus is on information on current topics and events in Switzerland in the form of text, images, audio and video contributions. Independent and in-depth information from the areas of politics, business, culture, science, education and society have first priority. The editorial offer exists in ten languages ​​(German, French, Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, since January 17, 2013 - after a pilot test from March to October 2009 on the occasion of the Ice Hockey World Championships in May 2009 and the state visit of the then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the end of September 2009 - also in Russian), and international networking has been promoted via blogs since 2007 .

In addition, dossiers, long-form reports and multimedia additions to current topics are offered. Information broadcasts on Swiss radio and television can also be accessed at SWI swissinfo.ch . There is a special section for the Swiss Abroad, “swissinfo for the Swiss Abroad”, which is supplemented by an Instagram channel with the hashtag #WeAreSwissAbroad. SWI swissinfo.ch aims to provide the Swiss abroad with balanced information about upcoming votes and elections. With the “Direct Democracy” section, SWI swissinfo.ch also conveys Switzerland's democratic values.

In addition to this website, SWI swissinfo.ch also uses the various social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. Depending on the language, other channels are added.

Range of services

The information can also be obtained from a mobile phone. The headline service automatically updates the headlines of the front pages on a computer. They can also be posted directly to other Internet sites via a news feed . A weekly free newsletter has been sent out since April 2016, containing the most interesting articles. A detailed collection of links on Switzerland is also available on the website. In March 2017, SWI swissinfo.ch launched a new app for iPhones and Android smartphones.

Web links

• SWI swissinfo.ch website
• Edzard Schade: Swiss Radio International. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Entry by SWI swissinfo.ch in the commercial register of the Canton of Bern .
2. ↑ New editor-in-chief and new deputy director at swissinfo. swissinfo , November 19, 2008 (press release).
3. ↑ «swissinfo» is now called «SWI swissinfo.ch». Integration into the “Branded family” of SRG SSR. SWI swissinfo.ch, January 23, 2014 (press release).
4. ↑ Swissinfo. Larissa M. Bieler becomes editor-in-chief. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . 23rd June 2015.
5. ↑ Larissa M. Bieler becomes director. In: persoenlich.com . 20th September 2018.
6. ↑ SWI swissinfo.ch annual report 2016. SWI swissinfo.ch (2016 annual report). Retrieved May 3, 2017.
7. ↑ Launch of the Russian-language service from swissinfo.ch . In: swissinfo.ch. January 17, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
8. ↑ Special. In: SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved October 20, 2016 . 
9. ↑ SWI swissinfo.ch (@ swissinfo.ch). In: www.instagram.com. Retrieved October 20, 2016 (Instagram photos and videos). 
10. ↑ SWI swissinfo.ch launches new app. In: SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved May 3, 2017.