Takeover of Thurgauer Zeitung by NZZ Group: Thurgau government not pleased
The Thurgau government is not pleased about the takeover of the Thurgauer Zeitung by the NZZ Group. President of the cantonal government Claudius Graf emphasizes that newspaper diversity was desirable, but now there is only one newspaper in the canton.
In his statement to the SDA news agency, Graf complains above all that Tamedia has not kept its promises. Tamedia had clearly and completely failed to fulfill its promises to the people of Thurgau. When it took over the Thurgauer Zeitung (TZ) from Huber Co. in 2005, Tamedia declared that this takeover would secure the independence of the Thurgauer Zeitung and media diversity in Thurgau, and that the Frauenfeld site would be retained.
Not much is left of Huber Co. in Frauenfeld: the bookshop has been sold to Orell Füssli, the book and magazine publishing house has been outsourced, the printing plant has been shut down and it has been known since Wednesday that the real estate has been sold. The editorial building is still leased for five years.
"Not just a sub-newspaper of the St. Galler Tagblatt"
The cantonal government hopes that the future only newspaper in Thurgau will endure and "not just be a sub-newspaper of the St. Galler Tagblatt", emphasized Graf. What is wanted is a newspaper that is "really a newspaper for Thurgau" and creates identity.
With the takeover of TZ by the NZZ Group in 2010, what had already seemed possible in the canton in 2005 became a reality: at that time, in the run-up to this change of ownership, there was speculation that the NZZ Group with the St. Galler Tagblatt could take over TZ. However, the management of Huber AG at the time was unable to come to terms with this, although it said it had also negotiated with this interested party. A few years earlier, the St. Galler Tagblatt had taken over the Schweizerische Bodensee-Zeitung (SBZ) in Arbon.
An attempt by the Tagblatt to expand into the Kreuzlingen and Weinfelden regions failed in 2006. Similarly, TZ's attempts to expand into the Oberthurgau region were unsuccessful for decades. In 2006, TZ and Tagblatt therefore agreed on a collaboration that is probably unique in Switzerland: they remained competitors in cantonal reporting. For regional reporting from the Oberthurgau, Kreuzlingen and Weinfelden regions, the two papers exchanged reports. In addition, the two newspapers became head pages, producing only the cantonal and local sections themselves. The TZ obtained its national section from the Winterthurer Landbote, while the Thurgauer Tagblatt obtained its from St. Gallen.
Not much is left of Huber Co. in Frauenfeld: the bookshop has been sold to Orell Füssli, the book and magazine publishing house has been outsourced, the printing plant has been shut down and it has been known since Wednesday that the real estate has been sold. The editorial building is still leased for five years.
"Not just a sub-newspaper of the St. Galler Tagblatt"
The cantonal government hopes that the future only newspaper in Thurgau will endure and "not just be a sub-newspaper of the St. Galler Tagblatt", emphasized Graf. What is wanted is a newspaper that is "really a newspaper for Thurgau" and creates identity.
With the takeover of TZ by the NZZ Group in 2010, what had already seemed possible in the canton in 2005 became a reality: at that time, in the run-up to this change of ownership, there was speculation that the NZZ Group with the St. Galler Tagblatt could take over TZ. However, the management of Huber AG at the time was unable to come to terms with this, although it said it had also negotiated with this interested party. A few years earlier, the St. Galler Tagblatt had taken over the Schweizerische Bodensee-Zeitung (SBZ) in Arbon.
An attempt by the Tagblatt to expand into the Kreuzlingen and Weinfelden regions failed in 2006. Similarly, TZ's attempts to expand into the Oberthurgau region were unsuccessful for decades. In 2006, TZ and Tagblatt therefore agreed on a collaboration that is probably unique in Switzerland: they remained competitors in cantonal reporting. For regional reporting from the Oberthurgau, Kreuzlingen and Weinfelden regions, the two papers exchanged reports. In addition, the two newspapers became head pages, producing only the cantonal and local sections themselves. The TZ obtained its national section from the Winterthurer Landbote, while the Thurgauer Tagblatt obtained its from St. Gallen.
