Employee exodus at the Zug press
The restructuring of Zug's second newspaper is being delayed
The restructuring of Zug's second paper is delayedFour of 14 employees of Zuger Presse (ZP), including Editor-in-Chief Lukas Nussbaumer, have resigned. The reason for their resignations is disagreement with majority shareholder Daniel Brunner. "This was certainly not a masterpiece of my management," Brunner told WerbeWoche self-critically. He had apparently led too little. At the beginning of last week, Brunner also informed the ZP Board of Directors, which includes Matthias Luchsinger, Managing Director of Cinecom & Media.Brunner had expected a brisker pace in the initiated restructuring of ZP. He wanted to present ZP with a new layout in the fall. In addition, it was to be reduced from three to two issues per week, but at the same time Brunner wanted to expand the Internet offering and update it daily (WW 13/00).
However, the project progressed more slowly and will be further delayed by the layoffs. "The layoffs come at an inopportune time," Brunner says bluntly. But the project is not in jeopardy, he says. He now wants to launch the new ZP at the beginning of January 2001. With the new look, he hopes to get the paper into the black in three years. Last year, the newspaper posted a deficit of 1.3 million francs, which Brunner expects to be similar again this year.
At least Brunner has now found a new publishing director. He does not want to mention her name yet, but she will take up her post on September 1. The position had been vacant since December 1999.
ZP was founded in 1996 as an alternative to the Neue Zuger Zeitung, a head paper of the Neue Luzerner Zeitung. Currently, the paper, which is linked to the Tages-Anzeiger via a subscription combo, has over 5500 subscribers. But TA-Media has cancelled the combi at the end of the year. Whether it will be continued under different conditions is still open. Markus Knöpfli
However, the project progressed more slowly and will be further delayed by the layoffs. "The layoffs come at an inopportune time," Brunner says bluntly. But the project is not in jeopardy, he says. He now wants to launch the new ZP at the beginning of January 2001. With the new look, he hopes to get the paper into the black in three years. Last year, the newspaper posted a deficit of 1.3 million francs, which Brunner expects to be similar again this year.
At least Brunner has now found a new publishing director. He does not want to mention her name yet, but she will take up her post on September 1. The position had been vacant since December 1999.
ZP was founded in 1996 as an alternative to the Neue Zuger Zeitung, a head paper of the Neue Luzerner Zeitung. Currently, the paper, which is linked to the Tages-Anzeiger via a subscription combo, has over 5500 subscribers. But TA-Media has cancelled the combi at the end of the year. Whether it will be continued under different conditions is still open. Markus Knöpfli
