As stated several times in the preceding chapters newspapers are an important element of the democracy. This is the first reason why the Swiss government should help them continue to exist. Historically speaking newspapers have always had a big role in the media landscape and that have been one of the trademarks of Switzerland.
Even in 2010 the presence and diversity of the traditional press in the confederation are stronger than in most other countries in Europe and in the world as well. To illustrate that the graphic below shows how much newspapers are read in Switzerland and in other countries.
Time allocated to read newspapers in worldwide in 2008/2009
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The Swiss are in the top half of the time allocated to the reading of newspapers. This strong newspapers presence is a valuable asset to the country and the government should try to defend it fiercely. But the main goal of the government should not be to try to keep newspapers at all costs.
Of course they are important to Switzerland but the key objective should be to maintain a high level of quality in the media contents. This is the real issue for Switzerland. The formats in which the contents are presented are not that important for the public. But the contents and the quality of the information are. Being able to keep the newspapers in business would certainly be positive for the country but the main objective is to save journalism.
No matter its form the Swiss government has to be able to help maintaining high quality standards in the Swiss media. Otherwise it could create problems for the democracy. Political parties with high budgets will have too much power and will be able to implement all their ideas through strong advertising campaigns. And citizens that are not informed well would simply follow those ideas. This is a bit extreme but it is a scenario that is possible. It is obviously in the best interest of the Swiss government to prevent that from happening so the direct democracy system that is in place continues to work.
62 http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/fr/index/themen/16/03/key/ind16.indicator.16010302.160201.html?open=160006#160006