Tragedy of Meyer's enters second act
The future of Meyer’s remains unclear.
The future of Meyer's remains unclear: the loss-making women's magazine is still looking for a buyer and will continue to operate for the time being. The editorial team was informed of this on Tuesday. For the employees who have been made redundant in corpore, the uncertainty about their future continues and talks are underway with new interested parties. The editorial team did not learn any more on Tuesday. And yet Bruno Hug and Oliver Prange, publishers of Obersee Nachrichten and Persönlich, had only just burnt their fingers with Meyer's. Just three days after they had plunged in head over heels, the supposed bargain was already getting too hot for them.
Hug and Prange had primarily focused on the period in which the terminated editorial team was still paid and available. "The interesting thing about the deal was that the salaries were paid for three months, during which time it would have been possible to build up a new staff," explains Hug. In other words, the title could then have been trimmed to low-cost production, something in which Hug and Prange have a lot of experience. But that didn't happen - the two of them threw in the towel as soon as it became known that the editorial team was not affiliated with the CLA when the contract was signed. This would have cost the new owners several hundred thousand francs in additional employee claims.
One employee is convinced that the slip-up with the concealed CLA subordination was not deliberate, but the result of "catastrophic incompetence and a lack of transparency" at Verlag Meyer AG. Apparently there had been a mix-up with the CLA in the printing sector, which had been terminated in 1996. Hug has decided not to sue for the withheld CLA subordination. "I have not suffered any damage, at most damage to my image," he says.
Media planners are still of the opinion that Meyer's must have a future. Otherwise, German-speaking Switzerland would lack a conservative women's title. It will be interesting to see if anyone else can be found who wants to continue serving the target group covered by Meyer's - and has the money to do so. (dse)
Hug and Prange had primarily focused on the period in which the terminated editorial team was still paid and available. "The interesting thing about the deal was that the salaries were paid for three months, during which time it would have been possible to build up a new staff," explains Hug. In other words, the title could then have been trimmed to low-cost production, something in which Hug and Prange have a lot of experience. But that didn't happen - the two of them threw in the towel as soon as it became known that the editorial team was not affiliated with the CLA when the contract was signed. This would have cost the new owners several hundred thousand francs in additional employee claims.
One employee is convinced that the slip-up with the concealed CLA subordination was not deliberate, but the result of "catastrophic incompetence and a lack of transparency" at Verlag Meyer AG. Apparently there had been a mix-up with the CLA in the printing sector, which had been terminated in 1996. Hug has decided not to sue for the withheld CLA subordination. "I have not suffered any damage, at most damage to my image," he says.
Media planners are still of the opinion that Meyer's must have a future. Otherwise, German-speaking Switzerland would lack a conservative women's title. It will be interesting to see if anyone else can be found who wants to continue serving the target group covered by Meyer's - and has the money to do so. (dse)
