Le Matin says goodbye with 64 pages and an obituary
With a 64-page special edition and a simple obituary on the front page, Le Matin, the largest daily newspaper in French-speaking Switzerland, bids farewell to its readers. A Saturday “Dernière” filled with emotion and sorrow.
Of the last issue, 80,000 copies were printed, double the usual circulation, outgoing editor-in-chief Grégoire Nappey told Keystone-SDA. The farewell newspaper comprises 64 pages and will be available on newsstands at the normal price until next Tuesday. On the front page of the last print edition, a simple, black-and-white obituary with the names of all employees announces "with deep sorrow" the passing of Le Matin.
In addition, on Saturday, on the initiative of the "little brothers and sisters, cousins" of all the other Tamedia newspapers in French-speaking Switzerland, an obituary appeared in six titles to mark the end of Le Matin. Le Matin was euthanized at dawn on July 21, 2018, at the age of 125, without pain-relieving measures, it says. In lieu of flowers, the bereaved family asks that you please "pay for information". Le Matin was from the Tribune de Lausanne which was founded in 1893.
The orange DNA
Whoever read the last issue of the Le Matin that has what it takes to become a collector's item, once again encounters all the departments that are important for the creation of a printed newspaper: Production, title setting, photo service, graphics department, delivery, newsstands and journalists.
On 64 pages, the editors offer their readers their latest primeurs, revelations and articles. The editors write about everyday and extraordinary occurrences, explain the orange DNA of the largest daily newspaper in French-speaking Switzerland to date, and report on unforgettable encounters. Once again, the editors tip their hats to their readers. On eight pages, the newspaper gives a few hundred readers a face in the form of lined-up passport-like photos with some testimonials. Faces from politics and society that have provided the newspaper with the big headlines over the past decades also appear once again.
Preserving the old spirit digitally as well
Although it Le Matin will only be available digitally in the future, the staff wanted to preserve the old spirit of the newspaper, as the new editor-in-chief Laurent Siebenmann writes. The decision to abandon the printed edition was made by Tamedia's publishing house. The publisher justified the move with the 34 million francs in losses it had incurred with the printed edition of Le Matin over the past ten years. The Zurich media group will therefore focus exclusively on a "solid digital brand" in the future. It had also unilaterally ended the mediation process with the social partners on Thursday, triggering fierce reactions from cantonal governments and unions. The end of Le Matin was widely echoed in various headlines in all other daily newspapers in western Switzerland on Saturday. The end is a shame for the whole of French-speaking Switzerland, headlines Le Temps. Popular and cheeky, Le Matin has given the Swiss media landscape a face, it says in 24 heures. Le Matin is turning over a new leaf, but the media landscape remains vibrant, according to the Tribune de Genève.
The newspapers in German-speaking Switzerland have fewer words to say. The NZZ writes of a "turbulent end" for the daily newspaper. The Tamedia papers also describe the end of Le Matin in a few paragraphs. For most, the end on Saturday is not worth more than a short news item. (SDA)
