Basler Zeitung triggers controversy with front-page ad

 On Wednesday, the Basler Zeitung (Baz) published a large advertisement on the front page. The advertisement promoted Subaru. For the Baz, which is now operating under its own management, the advertisement on the front page was a first. It annoyed some readers: In a letter to the editor, one reader wrote: "For a newspaper as renowned as the Baz, advertising of this size on the front page is far below par. This is only just acceptable for free newspapers." In the readers' forum on the Baz website, one user says that the advertisement on the front page is "massively exaggerated, even indecent". The fact that the Basler Zeitung published a large supplement on CO2 consumption on New Year's Eve makes the advertisement even more piquant for the car manufacturer Subaru. The Baz has terminated its management contract with Publicitas and has been operating under its own management since the beginning of the year (see
). The subsidiary Basler Zeitung Medien Werbe AG is now responsible for the advertising business of the Baz.