Three Rogers, three role models
Guest commentary Schawinski, de Weck, Köppel: Urs Gossweiler thinks Roger belongs at the publisher's table.
Guest commentary Schawinski, de Weck, Köppel: Urs Gossweiler thinks Roger belongs at the publisher's table.
The 2006 annual meeting of the Swiss press in St. Moritz is a thing of the past. Hanspeter Danuser, the great host, is right: there really is a champagne climate in the world's noblest mountain village. However, the stars at this meeting were not the sparkling wines of France, but three Rogers from Switzerland who are active in Germany. One of these three musketeers is Roger Schawinski, who gave an initial summary of his activities at Sat1, the second largest private television station in the second largest television market in the world. He did so with so much substance that one could only marvel. At the request of presenter Norbert Neininger, Schawinski analyzed the work of another Roger in Germany, that of Roger de Weck. He said that Roger de Weck had created the conditions for Giovanni di Lorenzo's current success at the Hamburg weekly Die Zeit.
Two things are astonishing about this statement: Firstly, the fact that a Swiss media professional is giving positive praise to another Swiss media professional. Second, the great independence of Schawinski. There are not many in Germany who would have the courage to call Holtzbrinck's star publicist di Lorenzo (Die Zeit, Der Tagesspiegel) a beneficiary of his predecessor.
Roger Schawinski deserved a monument in Switzerland and especially in the media city of Zurich a long time ago. He broke the SRG monopoly on radio and television (both of which are now more likely to be reversed with the new RTVG) and helped Tamedia become the multimedia player in the greater Zurich area. And then everyone was convinced that he would fail in Berlin. But the Zurich native surprised everyone by doing his new job not just well, but brilliantly. Nevertheless, it's still not enough to be invited to the president's table at the gala dinner.
Finally, panelist Roger Köppel will soon be one of the very few editors-in-chief who are also majority owners. I very much hope that he and his Weltwoche will become a member of the Swiss Press Association. Lebrument, who as president was whistled back by his Zurich publisher colleagues because of his liberal stance on indirect press subsidies, should bring Köppel into the presidency as quickly as possible and build him up there as his successor. This could bring about the necessary turnaround away from public service (i.e. subsidies) and toward free competition.
Urs Gossweiler is publisher of the Jungfrauzeitung and inventor of the microcosm
The 2006 annual meeting of the Swiss press in St. Moritz is a thing of the past. Hanspeter Danuser, the great host, is right: there really is a champagne climate in the world's noblest mountain village. However, the stars at this meeting were not the sparkling wines of France, but three Rogers from Switzerland who are active in Germany. One of these three musketeers is Roger Schawinski, who gave an initial summary of his activities at Sat1, the second largest private television station in the second largest television market in the world. He did so with so much substance that one could only marvel. At the request of presenter Norbert Neininger, Schawinski analyzed the work of another Roger in Germany, that of Roger de Weck. He said that Roger de Weck had created the conditions for Giovanni di Lorenzo's current success at the Hamburg weekly Die Zeit.
Two things are astonishing about this statement: Firstly, the fact that a Swiss media professional is giving positive praise to another Swiss media professional. Second, the great independence of Schawinski. There are not many in Germany who would have the courage to call Holtzbrinck's star publicist di Lorenzo (Die Zeit, Der Tagesspiegel) a beneficiary of his predecessor.
Roger Schawinski deserved a monument in Switzerland and especially in the media city of Zurich a long time ago. He broke the SRG monopoly on radio and television (both of which are now more likely to be reversed with the new RTVG) and helped Tamedia become the multimedia player in the greater Zurich area. And then everyone was convinced that he would fail in Berlin. But the Zurich native surprised everyone by doing his new job not just well, but brilliantly. Nevertheless, it's still not enough to be invited to the president's table at the gala dinner.
Finally, panelist Roger Köppel will soon be one of the very few editors-in-chief who are also majority owners. I very much hope that he and his Weltwoche will become a member of the Swiss Press Association. Lebrument, who as president was whistled back by his Zurich publisher colleagues because of his liberal stance on indirect press subsidies, should bring Köppel into the presidency as quickly as possible and build him up there as his successor. This could bring about the necessary turnaround away from public service (i.e. subsidies) and toward free competition.
Urs Gossweiler is publisher of the Jungfrauzeitung and inventor of the microcosm
