Top of the week: Weltwoche's lawsuit against NZZ dismissed
The Zurich District Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Weltwoche against Neue Zürcher Zeitung. In an article dated February 16, 2010, the NZZ had rightly raised the question of editorial influence by third parties at Weltwoche.
The reason for the question was the lack of transparency in Weltwoche's ownership structure, which the court also considers to be the case. The author of the article "No transparent information world" printed on the media page of the NZZ was allowed to ask the question about the exertion of influence in the public interest. This is of particular importance in the media industry, according to the district court ruling of May 16, which is not yet legally binding and which the NZZ reported on Tuesday. The interference with the personality of Weltwoche and its publisher and editor-in-chief Roger Köppel is therefore justified, writes the court. Other violations of personality were not recognizable. Weltwoche and Roger Köppel had complained that their personality had been unlawfully violated by the NZZ article. They demanded compensation of CHF 10,000.
