That's too much even for the SP Canton of Zurich produces environmental podcast for 10,000 francs per episode

The canton of Zurich is investing considerable sums in the production of podcasts, which raises questions about the role of the state. One bicycle podcast in particular is causing discussion.

With the production of podcasts, the canton of Zurich has entered new territory that not only incurs high costs, but also raises the question of whether this should be a government task. One example is the podcast "Uf de Spur - de Umweltkrimi vo Züri", which is produced by the Zurich Building Department.

In this podcast, the fictional characters Anna and Lukas experience adventures involving environmental problems such as disappearing bats and radioactive gases.

The production of the four episodes cost a total of CHF 40,000, which corresponds to a price of CHF 10,000 per 20-minute episode, as reported by theNZZ.

The building authorities argue that these podcasts are intended to appeal to younger people in order to draw attention to lesser-known environmental problems. However, the canton of Zurich is no newcomer to podcasts, as it runs a total of eight podcast series. Another example is the podcast "On Probation - Living with Prison", which features experts talking about their work and generated external costs of CHF 36,000. This series reached 8500 listeners.

High costs raise questions

The central question remains whether it is the job of the authorities to produce such media content. The authorities justify themselves with the need to inform the population, as a significant proportion of the Swiss population listens to podcasts.

Nevertheless, the high costs raise questions. In particular, the bicycle podcast produced by the bicycle traffic department, which comprises 14 episodes with a total of 2,300 downloads, has been criticized. The Directorate emphasizes the importance of knowledge transfer and communication as part of the funding programme approved by parliament.

The political debate surrounding the podcasts has also flared up. SVP cantonal councillor Anita Borer emphasizes that the cost must be in proportion to the benefit. SP cantonal councillor Rafael Mörgeli also expresses concerns and considers the cost of CHF 10,000 per episode to be exaggerated. This discussion shows that the balance between the state's mandate and financial responsibility still needs to be found.

This article was created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). All content taken from AI is verified by the editorial team.