The journalist from RTS Yves Steiner has done a very poor job. The nine members of the Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (AIEP) are unanimous in acknowledging the errors of his report, broadcast on 6 December 2013, which triggered the media furore against Dominique Giroud. AIEP Firstly, Yves Steiner made false accusations by wrongly claiming that Dominique Giroud had committed illegal acts. Secondly, the journalist deliberately "omitted exculpatory information". Thirdly, the report "negatively orientated public opinion" by referring to a past conviction of Dominique Giroud, even though this had "no connection whatsoever with the main theme of the report". Four members of AIEPIn their view, this "is not acceptable" and has given "a generally negative impression" of Dominique Giroud, making him "an unsavoury character". In their view, "the accumulation of these errors constitutes a violation of programme law". In the end, they consider that the RTS breached the law by preventing viewers "from freely forming their own opinions". The other members of AIEP consider that "the shortcomings observed did not prevent the public from freely forming its own opinion". The issue will be finally settled by the Federal Court, to which Dominique Giroud has decided to refer the case. The recitals of AIEP can be downloaded below.
Menu
