The recent and ongoing financial crisis prompted many Swiss news media to eliminate or cut back their investments. In particular, the number and availability of reporters who have the time, institutional backing, and resources to perform effective watchdog journalism are being reduced. Due to limited resources, some of the selected media depend a great deal on news agencies. Once again, the public broadcasters seem to have fewer problems in this regard. Due to financial aid (e.g., licence fees), they have enough personnel and time resources to engage in thorough research. In some departments, journalists are on the payroll for the purpose of doing investigative journalism. However, among the editors, watchdog journalism is not universally seen as an absolute role that the media ought to play. Investigative reporting seems rather to be an exception. The accurate coverage of daily news and information is considered more important.
