When journalists forget the basics of their profession and fail to check their information, the result is fake news. Today, under the pen of Fabiano Citroni, the daily 24 Heures published such fake news, claiming that Dominique Giroud had been questioned by Patrick Schriber, the public prosecutor, for marketing foreign wine under Valais AOC designations. This is twice false. Dominique Giroud was never questioned by Prosecutor Schriber, and the wines in question were legally marketed under the supervision of the Swiss Wine Trade Commission. How did this happen? Firstly, because Fabiano Citroni made the serious ethical error of relying on a single source, the Interprofession de la vigne et du vin du Valais (IVV), to write his article. De facto, Fabiano Citroni has made himself the servant of the IVV. Secondly, because the IVV has for several years been using the media and the legal system to weaken a competitor whose economic success is disturbing. The accusations made by the IVV against Dominique Giroud, which were made public today, are pure fabrications. Dominique Giroud will therefore be forced to lodge a complaint for defamation and slander against those who contributed to the publication of this fake news. As the damage to his image caused by this false information is considerable, Dominique Giroud will also be suing for damages. In conclusion, it should be noted that the current upheaval is doing considerable damage to the reputation of Valais wines. However, the Tamedia Group's titles would not have got so carried away if a certain Valais government councillor had not, a few days ago, in a totally incomprehensible manner, opened the hunt against Valais winegrowers by bringing to the public's attention partial and biased information.
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