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There are strong accusations: on the Swiss French-speaking radio and television RTS, several superiors are said to have behaved inappropriately towards their subordinate employees. The daily “Le Temps” reported on Saturday and published an investigation in which several journalists worked for three months.
Darius Rochebin shaped the life of French-speaking Switzerland for 25 years. He featured the Téléjournal more than 4,000 times, the western Swiss counterpart of the Tagesschau.
A figurehead in western Switzerland
Rochebin has a very good reputation as a journalist. In his talk show “Pardonnez-moi” he had the world’s greats in front of the camera: the Dalai Lama, Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron or Greta Thunberg.
But the 54-year-old Rochebin was more than a journalist or television presenter for French-speaking Switzerland – he had the brilliant image of a dream son-in-law. His move to the French television network LCI this summer was also greatly regretted.
This impeccable image has now been severely damaged by the investigation of the newspaper «Le Temps». Rochebin is said to have behaved inappropriately, especially with young people seeking to make their way into journalism. And he is said to have created fake Facebook profiles of young women to get in touch with young men.
It is not yet clear whether he may have committed a crime. As surprising as it may be to viewers in French-speaking Switzerland, rumors about Rochebin’s behavior towards young men have been circulating in journalist circles for a long time.
Radio SRF was unable to communicate with Darius Rochebin, but through his lawyer told the newspaper “Le Temps” that he was not guilty of any crime and that no lawsuit had ever been filed against him.
“Culture of silence” in RTS
Western Swiss radio and television RTS is also criticized: not only Rochebin, but also other management employees are said to have misbehaved, especially towards female employees. And these accusations should also have been reported, but without consequences.
Thus, a “culture of silence” prevails at RTS, according to today’s newspaper report. RTS Director Pascal Crittin says: “There is no culture of silence within RTS, I want to make that clear: every complaint has a follow up. We act on each evidence, resolutely and as quickly as possible. “
RTS also claims that apart from an external report on fake Facebook accounts, no internal complaint has ever been filed about Darius Rochebin.
SRG is in shock
The allegations also concern SRG, the sponsoring company to which RTS and Swiss radio and television SRF belong. SRG’s Managing Director is Gilles Marchand, who led RTS from 2010 to 2017. On Saturday, the SRG announced upon request that Marchand was unaware of the allegations and was deeply shocked by the allegations made by “Le Temps.”
Together with RTS, SRG is doing everything in its power to “investigate these complaints, which have not yet been known to this extent, and help to sanction any criminal act. At the same time, SRG noted that employees had several options for reporting such behavior.
