Swiss Policy Research

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Swiss Policy Research
Swiss Propaganda Research (until May 2020)
Website logo
"Research and information project on geopolitical propaganda in Swiss and international media" (self-description)
languages German English
operator anonymous
editorial staff anonymous
On-line 2016 (currently active)
https://swprs.org/

Swiss Policy Research ( SPR ), until it was renamed in May 2020 Swiss Propaganda Research , has been a website without an imprint since 2016, which describes itself as a “research and information project on geopolitical propaganda in Swiss and international media”. The editors are anonymous, the funding unknown.

Topic selection

SPR states that the best-known works, for which various studies and reports are published on the website, are:

  • Studies on the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Swiss radio and television, and three global news agencies
  • Media navigator for the geopolitical orientation of German-speaking media
  • Propaganda key to the most important media manipulation techniques
  • Infographics on media networks in Switzerland, Germany and the USA
  • Analysis of Wikipedia manipulation
  • Analysis of the logic of imperial wars and the media information matrix
  • a report from a journalist
  • an analysis of Russian propaganda

In a study by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) in 2018 an attempt was made to deduce that the newspaper content was heavily influenced by the USA or NATO with regard to reporting on geopolitical conflicts and to devalue this as propaganda . In 2017, Swiss Radio and Television (SRF) were also accused of similar things . The media and communication scientist Vinzenz Wyss believes it is legitimate and important to examine the reports for certain narratives. Methodologically, however, the studies would not do justice to the complex question if the analysis, as in the case of the SRF, only relates to one day and one case. In this respect, the study has deficiencies that do not reveal its scientific value in view of the complex issue. The media scientist Stephan Russ-Mohl considers these studies to be propaganda, not serious research on propaganda. It is dubious if alleged "scientists" want to remain anonymous. “That doesn't work at all, at least not in a country like Switzerland”. He has doubts whether they are researchers.

A critical analysis “Facts about Covid-19” was provided during the Covid-19 pandemic . Sources are compiled to show that the Covid 19 disease is comparable to influenza (flu) and that the measures to combat pandemic are disproportionate. This information has also encouraged a German senior government council in the Ministry of the Interior to send theses across Germany that Corona is a false alarm and that fighting pandemics is fatal.

Creator of the internet platform

Under Contact, the members of SPR declare that they want to remain anonymous in order to avoid potential repression. The research reports are also published anonymously.

There is no imprint.

criticism

  • In a 2017 study by the University of Zurich on media structures in Switzerland, "six of the most discussed alternative media are analyzed". According to Daniel Vogler from the Institute for Communication Studies and Media Research at the University of Zurich “they resort to conspiracy theories”. Vogler also writes about the Swiss Propaganda Research website that it appears “as a pseudo-scientific media research project”.
  • The German Tagesschau criticized in 2017 under the title "Disinformation instead of serious research" that the site appears serious, but media researchers see deficiencies in the approach. It is unclear who is behind the studies. 77 percent of the requests would come from Germany.
  • The journalist Felix E. Müller wrote in the NZZ am Sonntag in 2018 : “We don't have to provide a stage for German disputes” and estimates that the website shoots with untenable claims against the local media and refuses to reveal who is behind it. Anyone who wants to understand Switzerland with thought patterns from Germany will end up on the wrong track. The media in Switzerland have a comparatively good acceptance and he cites several examples of this. He sees this as a reason why, in contrast to Germany, there is hardly a biotope of alternative media in Switzerland. Debates that were conceived in Germany are being held on the Swiss stage. Obviously one does not reach the broad mass of the public in Switzerland.
  • Patrick Gensing corrected in April 2020 in the ARD fact finder that the allegation of the introduction of a coronavirus censorship by law in Denmark by Swiss Propaganda Research is not true, but the "law amending criminal, justice and foreigners law" is mainly against Criminality in connection with the coronavirus crisis and no implementation of censorship was recognizable.
  • The journalist Andrea Haefely criticized in May 2020 in the magazine Observer : "The website Swiss Propaganda Research subordinates to the Swiss media what it does itself: Feeding the readers with questionable information." How much Switzerland is actually in the site is unclear . The fact that the letter ß , which is not used in this country, appears 529 times, rather suggests that German circles are at work.
  • In May 2020, the journalist Kurt Pelda estimated in the Tages-Anzeiger that the corona crisis had also made Swiss Propaganda Research much more popular. Demonstrators distrust the government and the press, they get inspiration from the “alternative media” on the Internet, which SPR is a part of. Corresponding material was distributed at a demonstration in Zurich. Pelda accuses the website of spreading "particularly bad propaganda about the war in Syria ". The SPR claims that the chemical weapons attacks there were staged, although UN investigations had proven the opposite.

The Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation stated in June 2020 that the platform posed as a research group, but that it was unscientific and portrayed conspiracy myths: “You do selective source work and shorten study results. Instead, the author (s) collect links from various, sometimes untrustworthy sources and change their statements without making the reasons for them transparent. That does not correspond to the quality standards of science or journalism - just like the documents on media criticism called 'studies'. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ New: Swiss Policy Research on swprs.org, accessed on May 22, 2020.
  2. ↑ a b c d Andrea Haefely: Conspiracy theories. Anonymous Warner with a sharp S , observer.ch, May 7, 2020.
  3. ↑ Welcome to swprs.org
  4. ^ A b c Felix E. Müller : We don't have to offer a stage for German disputes. In: NZZ on Sunday January 20, 2018.
  5. ^ A b c Silvia Stöber: Disinformation in Switzerland Propaganda instead of serious research. Tagesschau, November 1, 2017 (web archive)
  6. ↑ Facts about Covid-19 on swprs.org
  7. ↑ Marlon Rusch: Alternative Views , shaz.ch, April 12, 2020
  8. ↑ Evelyn Finger , Holger Stark : Why an official dares to rebel in the Corona crisis. The time of May 11, 2020.
  9. ^ Daniel Vogler: Quality of the media. Switzerland - Suisse - Svizzera. Yearbook 2017. Basel: Schwabe, 23-39
  10. ↑ Patrick Gensing : Corona crisis Censorship introduced in Denmark? , tagesschau.de, April 8, 2020
  11. ↑ Kurt Pelda : Who is behind the "Corona rebels". In: Tages-Anzeiger , May 13, 2020.
  12. ↑ #Faktenfuchs: How credible is "Swiss Policy Research"? In: BR24 . June 5, 2020, accessed July 21, 2020.