Smarket pays journalists for their presence
Smarket, a Zurich-based tourism marketing company, paid journalists several hundred francs to attend a PR event. The journalists were introduced to clients.
Most of the journalists are said to have been paid a "lump sum" of CHF 500 for their attendance. The companies from the tourism industry present are said to have paid as much as CHF 3,000 for direct contact with the journalists. According to Handelszeitung.ch, Fiorenzo Fässler from Smarketei said that this was not a press conference, but an exchange of information, "even further training". It did not violate any laws or guidelines.
The editor-in-chief of the Bund, and responsible for the joint travel section with the Tagesanzeiger, Artur K. Vogel, however, objected to the compensation offered by Fässler. He also rejected compensation for the train ticket. "I am paid for my work," he wrote according to Sonntag. Accepting such a monetary payment would violate his journalistic principles, "and would also undermine our credibility".
The 500 francs for the journalists were in the press documents, as Sonntag continues. "I have never heard of such practices," says former Tagi editor-in-chief Peter Hartmeier. Fässler, however, has a different opinion. He compensates the journalists with a lump sum, as it is absolutely crucial for his customers that the promised top journalists are actually present.
