GENEVA (AFP) – Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a government plan to pump more than 150 million francs ($163 million) into print and broadcast media each year, according to opinion polls.

SRF reported that 56% of voters rejected this measure.

Opponents of the plan – which lawmakers approved in June – gathered enough signatures on a petition to bring the issue to the public in the form of a referendum.

Critics of the plan say the cash injection would waste taxpayer money, benefit major newspaper chains and media moguls, and harm the independence of the press by making the media more dependent on state donations, and thus less likely to criticize government officials. They also said it was discriminatory because free newspapers would not benefit from it.

“The state-backed medium is a censored medium. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” said referendum promoters. Together, they say, large print media groups made more than $300 million in profits in 2020, even during the COVID-19 crisis.

Many other countries in Europe provide subsidies to newspapers through discounts on postage rates, tax breaks and other measures.

Critical injection proponents argued that journalism, particularly in local areas not served by large media groups, should be considered a public service, as many public radio and television stations in Switzerland, throughout Europe.

“Media groups are struggling to survive. The Swiss Green Party, which supported the measure, said before the vote that advertising revenue from print press has not stopped falling or is being swallowed up by giants like Facebook and Google, and subscriptions are not enough.

Advocates say more than 70 newspapers have disappeared since 2003. Ad revenue for all publications fell 42% between 2016 and 2020 in Switzerland.