In her address on the Day of the Sick on Sunday evening, Micheline Calmy-Rey traditionally called for solidarity with health-disadvantaged people. Instead of catchy words that make us think, however, the Federal President served us a cocktail of official statement and a dose of prescribed empathy. Communication tailored to target groups and media looks different.
Sunday evening, Swiss television, between “Glanz & Gloria” and Tagesschau: Federal President Micheline Calmy-Rey is speaking out on the Day of the Sick. Speeches by Federal Presidents on special occasions have been routine for Swiss television audiences for decades. With great regularity, the magistrates testify not only to their noble spirit, but also to the inability of official Switzerland to reach the masses.
Even the official-sounding texts, which are often riddled with foreign words, make it difficult for a large part of the audience to get involved in the calls for solidarity. In addition, the traditional television speech with a single stationary camera position is actually not a television program at all; it is a radio speech with a picture. In the current case, there are also the difficulties of a woman from Geneva who, even after many years on the national political stage, is struggling in the German language.
Attractive television looks different.
A questioning look at SRG: How can the state broadcaster be interested in such a program? Instead of finally putting an end to the dusty television speech and presenting the content using images, the Federal Presidents are crammed into a broadcast format that allows “no movement” in the truest sense of the word.
Mrs. Calmy-Rey is no Barack Obama; she finds it difficult to flirt with the camera. Of course, you don't want to accuse her of finding it just as difficult to speak in German, but it didn't make her appearance any better. What further accentuates this point is the text: The authors of the prime-time monologue were too careful to make the magistrate sound intelligent and superior. The stilted choice of words might have been good for a German teacher in front of his class; a novel with an accent that is sometimes difficult to understand is simply not accepted by the general public.
Only content tailored to the target group can be received.
The Federal President's communications advisors apparently do not believe in popular, easy-to-understand communication. Yet there is virtually nothing that could not be explained in simple spoken language and without foreign words. If, in addition to understandable language, you also choose a broadcast format that appeals to the sender and meets the audience's perception, you avoid the chance that the message will reach the target group and make a difference.
Anyone who lives in the present and wants to communicate in the present day would do well to focus primarily on the needs of the audience. Content prepared and professionally presented in accordance with target groups and media is the be-all and end-all of communication that is received. This project failed; the text and broadcast format of the presentation was about as moving as administering a suppository.
Comment: Christian Gartmann, gartmann.biz