JOURNALISM’S FUTURE

The only certainty from this debate is the uncertainty embedded in journalism’s future. It’s a profession considered noble by its practitioners, those who strive for freedom of expression and thought and the right of the public to know what goes on around them.

On its 90th Anniversary, the Foreign Press Association in Switzerland and Liechtenstein (APES) presents a succinct summary of a two-hour debate, condensed into 15 minutes. Each of the six speakers is a professional veteran and their key point is included with cogent arguments about their craft.

The debate was held at the University of Geneva on 28 February 2019 (APES org.), with Christian Campiche (Impressum/Switzerland), Jamil Chade (O Estado de Sao Paulo/Brazil), Daniel Cornu (Tamedia Romandie/Switzerland), Renske Heddema (Netherlands press), Peter Kenny (South African journalist and APES vice-president), Brij Khindaria (Business India/India) — and Moderator : Jean Musy (Radio Zones/France and APES president).

2019

Upcoming events

December 4th – Annual General Meeting at Domaine de Penthes (Pregny-Chambésy / GE)

Covered events

October 3rd – DFAE Annual meeting with APES journalists (Geneva)

September 19th – Federal elections : Meeting with candidates (Bern)

September 18th – Movie launch : Future of Journalism (APES production/2019)

September 18th – First Léman Lyrique Festival (Geneva)

September 9th – General of Einstein on the Beach Opera at Grand Théâtre (Geneva)

May 9th – Disaster Risk Reduction (visit in Martigny/VS)

March 11th to 13th – Carnival of Basel

February 26th to March 1st – Pierre-Michel Virot Photo Exhibition to celebrate 90 years of APES in UNI-Dufour (Geneva)
Opening on Tuesday 27.02 at 6 P.M. and debate on Thursday 28.02 on the theme “What future for journalism?”

February 1st – Picasso Exhibition at Fondation Beyeler  (Basel)

2018

December 12th – IATA yearly Press Conference  (Geneva)

December 11th – Annual General Meeting at Domaine de Penthes (Pregny-Chambésy / GE)

December 05th – Yearly meeting with Swiss Banking Association (Geneva)

November 07th to 16th – Pierre-Michel Virot Photo Exhibition to celebrate 90 years of APES in UN “Salle des pas perdus” (Geneva)

November 05th – APES Press Conference and Presidential Lunch with President of the Confederation Alain Berset in Bern

September 19th to 20th – APES trip to Liechtenstein

August 21st – Visit to the The Cube of Philip Morris International in Neuchâtel

June 26th – Drone Innovators Network, day initiated by Federal Councilor Doris Leuthard at ETH Zürich

June 8th to 10th – Regatta of the “Bol d’Or Mirabaud” (Geneva)

May 30th – At the discovery of SolarStratos (Payerne)

March 27th – DFAE Annual meeting with accredited journalists (Geneva)

March 7th – Meeting of the Executive Committee of APES with Présence Suisse (Bern), with the Communication Service of the Presidency of the Federal Council and with the Service of General Attorney of the Confederation

March 5th – Press Conference about APES Trip to Kosovo in Swiss Press Club (Geneva)

February 18th to 20th – Carnival of Basel

February 7th to 10th – APES trip to Kosovo

January 16th – World Economic Forum yearly Press Conference (Cologny/GE)

2017

December 18th – Press Conference about APES Trip to Vietnam in Swiss Press Club (Geneva)

December 07th – Yearly meeting with Swiss Banking Association (Geneva)

December 06th – Annual General Meeting at Domaine de Penthes (Pregny-Chambésy / GE)

November 26th to december 04th – APES travel to Vietnam and signature of a partnership agreement with the Association of Journalists of Vietnam

October 24th – 100 years of Suisse Tourisme in pictures at the Musée de l’Elysée and visit to Aquatis Park (Lausanne)

September 27th to 28th – Trip to Ticino

September 04th – APES Presidential Lunch in Bern with Doris Leuthard, President of the Swiss Confederation

August 26th to September 03rd – Feast of Unspunnen (Interlaken)

June 07th – Osiris exhibition at Rietberg Museum (Zürich)

May 31st – Press Conference about APES Trip to Turkey in Swiss Press Club (Geneva)

May 29th – Exclusive visit of the exhibition at the Reformation Museum in Geneva

May 1st to 07th – APES Trip to Turkey

April 06th – DFAE traditionnal Lunch (Geneva)

April 05th – APES / CSP meeting with Metin Arditi author of the Swiss Love Dictionary at the Swiss Press Club (Geneva)

March 15th – Executive APES Committee with Présence Suisse (Bern)

March 06-08th – Basel Carnival

February 2nd – Participation of the President of the APES in the Round Table of the Swiss Press Club on the theme: “Covering International Geneva : Occupation in peril or job for the future?” (Geneva)

January 23rd – Meeting with Jean Ziegler at Domaine de Penthes (Pregny-Chambésy / GE)

January 20th – Visit to the Beyeler Foundation (Basel) for its 20th anniversary and the Monet exhibition

January 10th – World Economic Forum yearly Press Conference (Cologny/GE)

January 10th – Chinese-Swiss Media Round table at Intercontinental Hotel (Geneva)

2016

December 16th –APES Annual General Meeting at the Domaine de Penthes (Pregny-Chambésy / GE), followed by a meeting with Titus Plattner and Alexandre Haederli, members of the Swiss Investigation Unit on “Panamean Papers”

December 8th – IATA Global Media Day (Geneva)

December 1st – Yearly meeting with Swiss Banking Association (Geneva)

APES regrets to inform you of the death of
Mr Walter Emil BUSER
Former Chancellor of the Swiss Confederation (1981 – 1991)
and an Honorary member of APES
APES is grateful for the support he gave our association and offers his family and loved ones our deepest condolences.

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APES Presidential Lunch in Bern 2018 with Alain Berset President of Confederation

The Foreign Press Association in Switzerland and Liechtenstein (APES), founded in 1928, organizes every year since 1948 its traditional Presidential Dinner with the President of the Confederation. The opportunity to allow its journalists members to meet some fifty prestigious guests, spokespersons of the great bodies of the State to the leaders of the economy, the finance, politics, personalities of science, of culture and sport, which have marked the past year. In Bern, November 5, 2018, APES inaugurated with this event the cycle of celebrations of its 90th anniversary.

An APES production by Christian and Patricia Peschken.

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Partnership : APES receives Vietnamese Journalists’ Association

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Radio China International interviews APES President

APES President Jean Musy interviewed on March 19th 2018 by Radio China International about China’s situation following the election of Chinese President Xi Jingping

Listen to the interview in French :

Listen to the interview in Chinese :

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2018 APES trip to Kosovo

Geneva, March 5th 2018 – APES Press Conference at the Swiss Press Club on the trip of 6 journalists members in Kosovo, from 7 to 10 Feb. 2018

Click to view the video conference

Mitrovica, feb. 9th 2018, APES journalists with Agim Bahtiri, Mayor of Mitrovica (center)

On the 10th anniversary of Kosovo’s independence, six APES journalists made a trip to Prishtina, Prizren, Gračanica and Mitrovica, from February 7th to 10th.

Prishtina, Feb. 9 2018. APES journalists received by Eugen Saraçini, director of Radio Television 21, one of the main independent TV stations in Kosovo.

Prishtina, Feb. 9 2018 . Xhavit Haliti, Vice-President of the Kosovo Assembly (Parliament) receives APES journalists

Prishtina, Feb. 7 2018. Jean Musy, President of APES, interviewed by Arbresh.info

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2017 APES Travel in Vietnam

Geneva, Dec. 18th 2017 – APES Press Conference at the Swiss Press Club in Geneva, on the trip of 7 journalists members in Vietnam, from Nov. 28 to Dec. 4th 2017

Cliquer pour voir la vidéoconférence

Ha Noi, Nov. 27th 2017 — Signature of a partnership agreement between APES President Jean Musy (left) and Vietnamese Journalists Association President Thuan Huu (right) Photo & © Pierre Virot (2017)

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Doris Leuthard says to APES journalists : “Switzerland is ready to mediate in North Korea crisis”

Swiss President Doris Leuthard answers questions from journalists of APES

Bern, Sept. 4 — Swiss President Doris Leuthard has said Switzerland is ready to act a mediator and use the special role it has carved out in international diplomacy to host talks to help solve the current crisis over North Korea.
Leuthard was speaking at a press conference in the Swiss capital hosted by APES on September 5 and she asked if more sanctions are the answer to a missile crisis involving North Korea after its latest nuclear missile test.
“We live now for many years with sanctions. It did not change many things. The population suffers for all these sanctions, but they stay with their government, with their president. So, I think, it is really time for dialogue.
“We are ready to offer our good services now as a mediator,” she said noting that Switzerland has hosted peace talks on Syria and other conflicts.
Leuthard said that in the upcoming weeks a lot would depend on how the United States and China can influence the crisis while she cautioned that it would be dangerous to have overactions.
“It is really time now to sit at a table. The big powers have a reputation and a responsibility. Switzerland and Sweden can have a role behind the curtain” she observed saying they have done so before.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had spent some time as a high school student in Bern, but Leuthard could not say how this might influence any talks.

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2017 APES Presidential Luncheon with Swiss President Doris Leuthard

Swiss President Doris Leuthard with APES Committee in Schweizerhof Hotel (Bern 09.04.2017). From left to right : Emilia Nazarenko, Elizaveta Isakova, Peter Kenny, Rui Martins, Jean Musy, Doris Leuthard, Fatih Erel, Jennifer Freedman, He Nong, Luis Vasquez, Gunilla Von Hall

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APES in the Chinese Media about President Xi Jinping’s visit to Switzerland

January 11th : APES President Jean Musy on CCTV

January 20th : APES President interviewed by The Voice of China on Zheijang TV

January 21th : APES Vice-President Peter Kenny on CCTV

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Chinese and Swiss Media Round Table in Geneva : APES calls for more cultural exchanges

Jean Musy and Peter Kenny (left) responsible for APES (left) with Minister Jiang Jianguo (right), Director of the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva.

During the First Chinese and Swiss Media Roundtable, launched in Geneva on January 10th, during the state visit of President Xi Jinping to Switzerland, the President of the APES, Jean Musy, underlined before the Chinese Minister Jiang Jianguo, the need for journalists to “build bridges” between cultures. He said communication services are not convincing. “The public wants to know more and above all the truth .  For our credibility, we must go, see and know,” he added.

He recalled the major role of the renowned Swiss reporter Fernand Gigon, the first to communicate about Communist China to the world. That was when Switzerland had just recognized the Mao regime, the first among Western nations, January 17 1950. Sixty seven years later, Musy said there is still too much misunderstanding. Only a good flow of independent information from the field can improve this, he said.

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Swiss Banking Association meets with APES

Claude-Alain Margelisch, SBA CEO during his annual meeting with the APES in Geneva

December, 1st : According to the SBA, Switzerland had 266 banks in 2015, half of them foreign. Switzerland is the world leader in cross-border asset management, with a 25 percent market share. “In total,” notes Claude Margelisch, “assets under management in banks in Switzerland at the end of 2015 amounted to 6,567.6 billion Swiss francs. Half of this amount comes from foreign customers”. However, “market access, training and digital” remain “the major challenges for the future” for the Swiss banking sector, said the SBA CEO. Photos : © J.Musy and P.Kenny (2016)

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Yearly APES Presidential Lunch with the President of the Confederation

October, 27th – President of the Swiss Confederation Johann Schneider-Ammann with members of the APES Committee during the annual press conference and luncheon at the Schweizerhof in Bern.

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Solar Impulse : Technology for the environment

October, 10th – The two pilots of Solar Impulse, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, on their return from their recent round of the world, recounted their feat, highlighting the technological challenges faced by APES journalists at Château de Penthes / GE. They also explained the implications of this project for the future. Left, President of APES Jean Musy  and right, Vice-President Peter Kenny.

The Foreign Press Association in Switzerland and Liechtenstein

The Foreign Press Association in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, known by its French acronym APES, was founded in Geneva in 1928 and now has over 120 members representing media from every continent.

The majority of members are based in and around Geneva in French-speaking Switzerland, home to many United Nations and other international agencies.

There is also a sizeable contingent in German-speaking Zurich, Switzerland’s commercial hub, with a sprinkling in Bern, the Swiss capital, and Basel, a major cultural centre.

In addition to representing the professional interests of its members, APES facilitates their work through its contacts with Swiss federal and cantonal authorities, organisations and enterprises spanning all aspects of Swiss life, including politics, business, finance, science and culture.

Through these contacts APES organises a varied programme of activities for members including, each year, a themed visit to one of Switzerland’s 26 cantons and a dinner or lunch with the Swiss President as guest of honour to which many other prominent Swiss are also invited.