Noise Detection Switzerland
What this page shows
Imagine petrol prices rise by 30 percent — but the evening news does not mention it. Or the opposite: interest rates stay flat, but coverage explodes. Both are measurable. And both say something about the quality of public broadcasting.
The Suppression Index compares what happens in the real world with what appears on television. The data come from official sources — the Swiss National Bank, the Federal Statistical Office, MeteoSwiss, road accident statistics. Airtime figures come from over 19,000 transcribed SRF broadcasts.
When a real-world development is significant but coverage is small, we call that suppression: an important topic is neglected. When coverage is large but the real-world development is small, we call that noise: something is inflated beyond what the facts warrant.
Both can have legitimate causes. Not every suppression is deliberate, and not every noise event is manipulative. But a pattern across years and programme formats is not coincidence. It is systemic behaviour — and that is precisely what the charts below reveal.
These measurements are permanent. They are updated monthly, but the underlying principle does not change: coverage should follow reality, not the other way around. Whether you are a researcher or a farmer — if milk prices rise and television stays silent, it shows up here.
The Suppression Index S measures whether Swiss public television (SRF) coverage is proportional to real-world developments. It compares official statistics (SNB, BFS, MeteoSwiss, ASTRA) with the airtime share devoted to each topic.
Reading guide: Grey bars = outcome change (left axis), red line = airtime share (right axis). When bars are high but the line is low → suppression (topic is ignored). When the line is high but bars are low → noise (disproportionate coverage).
Scientific Paper
Schlaepfer, David (2026). Systematic AI-Assisted Analysis of Public Broadcaster Impartiality: A Scalable Methodological Framework for Measuring Structural Bias in Public Service Media.
SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=6688478 · DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.6688478
Interest Rates & Monetary Policy
Data source: SNB Policy Rate
Comparison of SNB policy rate development with airtime for interest rate topics. The Credit Suisse effect (Feb. 2023) shows massive overcoverage despite unchanged rates.
SRF Tagesschau
SRF 10vor10
SRF Rundschau
SRF Arena
Currency & Exchange Rates
Data source: SNB EUR/CHF
EUR/CHF exchange rate vs. coverage volume. Currency topics are often driven by individual events rather than exchange rate trends.
SRF Tagesschau
SRF 10vor10
SRF Rundschau
SRF Arena
Swiss Financial Sector
Data source: SNB SMI Index
Stock market index (SMI) vs. financial sector coverage. Significant correlation (r = 0.21).
SRF Tagesschau
SRF 10vor10
SRF Rundschau
SRF Arena
Purchasing Power & Consumer Prices
Data source: BFS Consumer Price Index
Consumer Price Index (CPI) vs. purchasing power coverage. Significant correlation (r = 0.18).
SRF Tagesschau
SRF 10vor10
SRF Rundschau
SRF Arena
Energy (General)
Data source: BFE Energy Price Index
BFE energy price index vs. airtime for energy topics. Strongest correlation across all clusters (r = 0.51).
SRF Tagesschau
SRF 10vor10
SRF Rundschau
SRF Arena
Oil & Fuel
Data source: BFE Fuel Prices
BFE fuel prices vs. coverage. Moderate correlation (r = 0.29).
SRF Tagesschau
SRF 10vor10
SRF Rundschau
SRF Arena
Traffic Safety
Data source: ASTRA Accident Statistics
ASTRA accident statistics vs. traffic accident coverage. Decoupled (r = 0.02) — coverage responds to individual events, not statistical trends.
SRF Tagesschau
SRF 10vor10
SRF Rundschau
SRF Arena
Climate & Nature
Data source: MeteoSwiss Monthly Mean Temperature
MeteoSwiss temperature development vs. climate coverage. Significant correlation (r = 0.24).
SRF Tagesschau
SRF 10vor10
SRF Rundschau
SRF Arena
Democracy & Referendums
Data source: Swissvotes Referendum Calendar
Swissvotes referendum data vs. coverage. Smallest cluster (referendum months only).
SRF Tagesschau
SRF 10vor10
SRF Rundschau
SRF Arena
Method: Suppression Index S = z(outcome) − z(airtime). Data: 19,000+ SRF broadcasts (2018–2026). Updated monthly.