Every day a reading Sunday
Print Media: Readers and advertisers are turning away from daily newspapers. Should they follow the example of Sunday newspapers?
in print media, particularly among the majority of daily newspapers, continues.
Meanwhile, the press's problems are already making the rounds in the columns
From the letters-to-the-editor pages: A reader recently complained in the NZZ
regarding the «lack of information that evokes concern» or regarding
«Trending topics such as health and life guidance.» He isn't surprised that,
that Sunday newspapers are gaining readers because they cover these topics
implement more consistently. The WEMF reach study (Mach Basic
(2005) agrees with him: The three Sunday newspapers in German-speaking Switzerland have
Gained readers, most notably the NZZ am Sonntag (9.6 %).
In addition, Sunday newspapers remained stable in terms of classified ad revenue,
while the daily and regional weekly press in the first half of the year
lost about 17 million francs in 2005.
Should daily newspapers therefore shift their content more toward
Can Sunday newspapers make a difference? Peter Rothenbühler, editor-in-chief of Le Matin
added fuel to the fire during the presentation of the WEMF figures and
asked why he only got a newspaper worth reading on Sundays
could. «We deal with news every day,» but when it comes to our own
«If they affect our industry, »we turn a blind eye in disgust,'" he said
highlights the lack of innovation among (German-speaking Swiss) newspaper publishers.
Nevertheless, the Swiss print media landscape has never before seen
Previously, there have been countless relaunches of print titles. A facelift is in:
In the past two and a half years alone, the Basler Zeitung,
Bieler Tagblatt, Mittelland Zeitung, Zürichsee-Zeitung, Oberländer,
Unterländer, Landbote, Berner Zeitung, Bund, Tages-Anzeiger, Le Temps,
SonntagsZeitung, WOZ, Facts, La Liberté, and more, new
brought to market magazines that some readers did not
recognized. The same applies to the magazines.
No Magic Formulas
Even on Zurich's Falkenstrasse, they're working on a new look
for the venerable NZZ. «A relaunch is part of a newspaper’s life,»,
says journalist and opinion leader Roger de Weck. But that alone
No newspaper has the answer to the current
Challenges. «The fact that, in the future, a portion of the readership
may read on electronic media; there is
»Not one magic answer, but many answers," says de Weck. In practice
Without exception, all newspapers now have their own websites, and
offer a range of additional services, such as constantly updated news
or—for a fee—access to the archive. At The New York Times
In the future, print and online editorial teams will be merged.
Nevertheless, readers are leaving. There is no shortage of models, however. The
There is talk of reinventing the daily newspaper, which is based on
Level of knowledge of someone who is already informed about the previous day's news
Audience-oriented and provides background information on this, as was recently the case
as explained by Res Strehle, the magazine's editor-in-chief. We're talking about the
the Fellner brothers' bimedia daily magazine in Austria, or from the
the recently launched Wall Street Journal Europe (see page 16).
There are also examples in Italy, such as *Il Foglio* or *Il*
Riformista, which consists mainly of commentaries. The more the
The more newspapers lose their role as news outlets, the more
she needs to focus on uncovering the story behind the news
"discover," the Süddeutsche Zeitung recently wrote.
Whether such newspaper models are tailored to current daily headlines
is questionable. «The much-cited model in Austria is, after all,
»more of a special case," says de Weck, who doubts that one can
follow the same path as the local national-level quality newspapers
the Fellner brothers might take. But reader and
The decline in advertising is causing major headaches for publishers. «The
Publishers need to seriously consider whether the Sunday business might not
also has a daily regional component, since the Sunday newspapers
»has completely overtaken the regional press," says the president of the publishers' association
Hanspeter Lebrument. This gives a hint as to the direction of the thinking,
and lets his gaze wander toward Vorarlberg.
What do commuters do on Sundays?
There, our colleague Eugen Russ is working—albeit under different circumstances—
with a free copy of the *Vorarlberger Nachrichten* at the ticket office, and thus
the Sunday edition of the Kronenzeitung at a safe distance. Whether a
A free Sunday paper for Lebrum could be an option if the
The publisher of *Südostschweiz* neither confirmed nor denied the report.
This inevitably raises the question of how the readership of 20
minutes to get through Sundays. «Of course, on Sundays there’s also
»Commuter traffic—that's something that's already been considered," says his
Publishing Director Rolf Bollmann. While the idea is certainly appealing, what
If home delivery worked in Vorarlberg, it would be expensive
Bollmann estimates that Switzerland cannot be financed without operating revenue. «One
»I'd have to come up with a completely new concept," he says. According to Roger
de Weck's commitment to quality is still the best
Responding to the Challenges of Our Time: Research and Original Work
Approaches that break the mold, along with a desire to stand out.
René Worni
