Social issues

Conference in Solothurn, 15 and 16 October 2022 – Part 3

This is how Swiss media call for even more war

by Christian Müller,* Switzerland

Dear guests

It is a pleasure for me to be able to speak to you at the invitation of the organisers responsible here. However, what I am to talk to you about is anything but a pleasure. It is a really sad story!

A long – critical! – letter to the editor on a military topic to the“Badener Tagblatt” in 1964, on the basis of which Werner Geissberger, the regional editor of the“Badener Tagblatt” at the time, asked me to write more often and also on other topics for the „BT”, became the start of my profession as a journalist.

Solothurn Conference of 15/16 October 2022 – Part 1

“What Media for Peace?”

Words of welcome at the opening of the conference

by Gabriel Galice*

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear friends,

I am pleased to open the proceedings of the conference “What Media for Peace?”.

This conference is an initiative of the Swiss Peace Movement, the Association Switzerland-Cuba, Alba Suiza and our Peace Research Institute GIPRI. We are all particularly indebted to the initiator and driving force behind this conference, Natalie Benelli: Thank you Natalie!
Solothurn Conference of 15/16 October 2022 – Part 2

The role of the media in armed conflicts

by Karin Leukefeld,* Germany/Syria

(17 November 2022) (cm) Not least the latest geopolitical situation shows in all clarity that the media have abandoned their original mandate of informing the interested population as independently and accurately as possible in favour of “information” that is one-sided in terms of power politics. Research on the ground of the events is often saved and replaced by reports of the dominant western news agencies AFP, AP, Reuters and DPA – or else they are abused additionally by means of so-called “parachute journalism” for one-sided information.

Please don’t drift off into visions!

Visible consequences of integration policy

by Carl Bossard*

(17 November 2022) “Was there something?”, many ask. A teacher shortage? An emergency situation? Those responsible for education act as if nothing had happened – and take refuge in visions. Some are amazed angrily.
Germany

Open letter from the town of Königs Wusterhausen to the Federal Government

written by the town council

Esteemed Federal Chancellor Scholz,
Esteemed Ministers

As an organ of local self-government, our entire attention is focused on the living conditions of our citizens, on the provision of social, economic and cultural infrastructure.

The challenges of the past years, whether as a result of the so-called refugee crisis or the pandemic policy, have already overextended the personnel and financial capacity of the municipalities several times.
Letter to the editor

It takes everyone for peace

(7 November 2022) For months, our daily lives have been dominated by war and the way it is reported. The coverage is marked by war rhetoric that only adds to our alarm.