BaZ: Tettamanti cancels lecture in Basel
Fearing that protests against the Basler Zeitung’s (BaZ) shift to the right might escalate, a lecture by majority shareholder Tito Tettamanti scheduled for Monday evening was canceled at the last minute. Tettamanti had planned to speak on «mediocracy» in the university auditorium.
The 75 percent owner of Basler Zeitung Medien (BZM) was invited by the Basel Statistical and Economic Society as part of its long-term event program. Tettamanti was scheduled to give a lecture entitled "Mediocracy The power of the media: imaginary or real?" However, the society canceled the event on Monday morning: It was "not guaranteed with sufficient certainty that it would take place in a sufficiently orderly manner". According to a spokeswoman for the society, it remains to be seen whether Tettamanti will give his lecture at a later date.
The left-wing party BastA! (Basel's strong alternative) had called for a rally in front of the side entrance to the university near the auditorium. They asked people to bring red cards and whistles. Around 70 people took part in a peaceful rally on Thursday in front of the BaZ editorial office. Acts of sabotage against the distribution of the BaZ are probably related to this: Because unknown persons chained some handcarts or stole newspapers that had been provided, the Monday BaZ could not be distributed to around 4000 addressees, as a BZM spokeswoman confirmed information from the "Regionaljournal Basel" of Schweizer Radio DRS.
The left-wing party BastA! (Basel's strong alternative) had called for a rally in front of the side entrance to the university near the auditorium. They asked people to bring red cards and whistles. Around 70 people took part in a peaceful rally on Thursday in front of the BaZ editorial office. Acts of sabotage against the distribution of the BaZ are probably related to this: Because unknown persons chained some handcarts or stole newspapers that had been provided, the Monday BaZ could not be distributed to around 4000 addressees, as a BZM spokeswoman confirmed information from the "Regionaljournal Basel" of Schweizer Radio DRS.
