Distribution ever more expensive and less efficient
For the moment, private newspapers do not benefit from direct aid. Support from the cantons and the Confederation is limited to participation in the distribution of securities. The Mail begins by putting your finger on the practical problem: “How can we guarantee the continuation of public aid for the distribution of paper newspapers by Post? This service is becoming more and more expensive and increasingly degraded – the postman now spends the afternoon in certain regions.”
And in these times of “media neglect” – the authors mention the United States – should we go further? Imagine that the authorities directly support the media? In their appeal, they propose the “establishment of mechanisms for direct financing of the press in an equitable manner which guarantees the diversity of titles and opinions”; the definition of criteria and a framework for eligibility for direct aid”; and “helping the digital transition of securities through the allocation of dedicated funds”.
They conclude their editorial as follows: “Switzerland helps agriculture so that its population can feed itself a little in a local relationship; democracy undoubtedly deserves the same respect.”
In Saanen/Gstaad, the battle of the local newspaper
For its part, the NZZ explores three examples of regional media revitalization. Certainly special experiences, but which the main Zurich headline points out as examples for a profession that is rather frowned upon: “For journalists, the local newspaper has always been a place to leave. The one who has ambitions or talent, or in the best case both, finds a position in a larger editorial office, in a title with more readers, more money, more prestige, a higher quality requirement. .”
This is not the case for Frank Müller, the editor of theSaanen scoreboardin the canton of Bern – this is the municipality of Gstaad.
He relaunched the local media in particular by calling on a young editor-in-chief, Jocelyne Page, 32, presented as skilled with various tools, from video to artificial intelligence. And attached to the idea of a local newspaper that is not just a sheet. She works with five journalists, all part-time beginners. “With various independent collaborators, they fill two printed editions every week: with a mixture of editorial articles, advertorials, information on events and numerous announcements, official and commercial,” says the NZZfor whom “theSaanen scoreboard offers a classic public service. With its information on the municipalities of Saanen, Lauenen and Gsteig, the local newspaper contributes to an important principle of community life in Switzerland: the belief in the strength of small units.
Fredy Bayard’s choices
The newspaper also mentions the case of Fredy Bayard, a Valaisan based in Bern, who took over the Walliser Bote and another newspaper, before selling them to the executives of the company he set up. There NZZ notes that “he did something that other private media entrepreneurs in Switzerland would also like to achieve: he eliminated competition financed by royalties”, by taking over the local radio station Rottu Oberwallis, which receives two million francs per year as part of the royalty. “Anyone who wants to do local television or radio profitably in Switzerland needs support,” assures Fredy Bayard. In 2021, he took over the Gassmann group (Jura Journal, Bieler TagblattCanal 3, Telebielingue and the Courvoisier-Gassmann printing house).
In Rorschach, local life through a blog
The NZZ addresses yet another local bias, the blog. It evokes the history of Rorschach, a small town in the canton of St. Gallen – the terminus of the country’s spinal line, from Geneva to Berne then Zurich. Where one of the first German-language newspapers was printed, “perhaps even one of the first newspapers in the world”. “From 1597, the Protestant publicist Samuel Dilbaum reported in the Rorschach monthly magazine war events, crimes, pillaging, piracy, new taxes, customs duties and the high cost of living.”
Much more recently, in the 1970s, the St. Galler Tagblatt took over the Rorschach newspaper; and in 2019, the newspaper closed its Rorschach bureau. Which highlighted Res Lerch’s blog, “which has just celebrated its 70th anniversary”. He doesn’t touch on politics, it’s too complicated, but he emphasizes wanting to talk about “what brings us together”: the activities of associations, concerts and culinary art, new offers from municipalities, stores that are opening and close… “He photographs graffiti on the walls of houses and the sunset on the lake”, adds the newspaper, specifying that if the blog does not bring in much, “on good days”, Res Lerch records “until at 10,000 visits.
The Mail is organizing two debates on Wednesday, November 13, at the Maison des associations, in Geneva. At 6 p.m., “What solutions to save the press”, bringing together editors-in-chief; at 8:30 p.m., “What role for political and economic actors?” with political stakeholders.
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