Thurgau cantonal parliament fears cider ditch

A possible deal between the major Zurich publishers NZZ and Tamedia, which would split Thurgau into two publishing regions, is attracting criticism in Thurgau. SVP cantonal councillor Andrea Vonlanthen is responsible for the fact that the topic was discussed in the council at all. A year ago, he complained in an interpellation that the cantonal government was not sufficiently critical of the sale of the Thurgau newspaper to Zurich-based Tamedia. A few weeks ago, the cantonal government rejected his demands for greater political influence on the media landscape (see
Thurgau cantonal council considers media concept unnecessary). At the time, parliament followed the cantonal government without a murmur. It is now known that the NZZ Group's St. Galler Tagblatt and Tamedia's Thurgauer Zeitung may be joining forces (see
Thurgauer Zeitung and St. Galler Tagblatt are negotiating a cooperation). This development is now giving rise to greater skepticism. In particular, the division of Thurgau into two journalistic territories, which would result in the closure of several local editorial offices, was strongly criticized. The SP spokesperson said that this would lead to a "cider ditch". The planned replacement of entire newspaper pages would lead to journalistic uniformity that would no longer do justice to the political canon and the social obligations of the newspapers, it was said all around. This prompted Economic Director Schläpfer to appeal to the media houses not to close their editorial offices in the regions, reports the news agency SDA.