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The former director of Swiss Radio Andreas Blum has died at the age of almost 86.
Andreas Blum came to what was then Radio DRS in 1967, first as a speaker thanks to his acting training, then as a reporter. He stood out as a committed journalist and discussion leader who rarely missed a fundamental discussion.
No topic was too controversial, too complex – or too banal for him. And there were more than enough explosive topics in the 1960s: youth unrest, house occupations, changing moral concepts.
1979 – a fateful year
In 1978, Blum was elected director quickly, as his predecessor left his post in the midst of a reorganization. On January 1, 1979, he started as radio director. It was a fateful year for Blum as well as for radio, wrote former radio and television director Otmar Hersche in an article in the “Tages-Anzeiger” in 1999 when saying goodbye to Andreas Blum. During his 20 years as director, Blum modernized the radio and withstood the stormy debates about its direction.
“Radio Blum” was even used as a tirade of abuse in the increasingly competitive media landscape. That was “shoddy,” writes Hersche, “used by interest groups to undermine the credibility of the SRG and the radio.” The fact that Blum was represented for the SP in the National Council met with criticism. He gave up his political office, but initially remained president of the SPS Foreign Policy Commission in 1979. “A mistake,” as he later said.
A committed, fair boss
His election to the directorship was not a given, writes Hersche. However, it was a stroke of luck, because Andreas Blum made the quality of radio and its integrative social function his mission. He described the importance of finance as an “enemy”. “The material has been given oversized importance, the content has become secondary,” he criticized in an interview.
Journalists who have worked with Andreas Blum describe him as a committed, fair boss who was always committed to quality. He was a good listener and a gifted speaker at the same time. Hardly anyone in the editorial team was so eloquent.
He remained modest. He saw himself as part of the editorial team. “Anyone who addressed me as Director was making a fool of themselves,” he said in an interview when he left.
Legend: Andreas Blum, then radio director of Schweizer Radio DRS, recorded on October 27, 1993. Archive/Keystone/Str
He visually underlined his modesty. Instead of a shirt and tie, he liked to wear a turtleneck sweater – at a time when that was not yet chic, but rather very unusual. “I hate the appearance obsession,” he told “Schweizer Illustrieren” in 1994.
Blum’s interest was not limited to politics, economics or society. He studied philosophy and history. He was one of the top athletes in the modern pentathlon in the 1960s and 1970s and, years after his retirement – in 2011 – made a comeback as an actor in the musical the Thuner Seespiele. In the 1960s he had a role as an actor in the circus television series Salto Mortale.
In his diverse roles he will be remembered as a tireless, committed and passionate fighter.