dieperspektive - Trend is out - Cult works differently

In these crazy times, the young generation needs its own print medium in which it can present its opinions, write and photograph itself." This was the conviction of Othmar Beerli, publisher of the Musenalp Express, in the 1970s. Today, this is no longer so important, one would think, as social media networks offer enough platforms for any kind of self-presentation. But conveying a well-founded opinion, adopting one's own perspective, is not only essential for political opinion-forming and cultural development, it also requires a platform. For some, social media networks seem too arbitrary, too simple, too confusing. This is how dieperspektive came into being in Zurich - a newspaper for readers who like to think one perspective step further and which functions according to the principle "from the reader for the reader. Apparently, it is also quite convenient for many - at least, theperspektive has already existed for more than three years. The respective articles are supposed to offer a perspective that is lost in the conventional media. The free newspaper Blick am Abend has also picked up on this recurring trend and started a "Young Community" section, with slogans, couples' photos and opinion controversies. At dieperspektive, all content is written by readers only. The editorial system is also structured somewhat differently. All decisions concerning the paper are made at the editorial meeting.

The meeting is open to the public and any decisions must receive the approval of all participants. Otherwise, discussions are held until a consensus is reached. Layout and content are then again more in line with a magazine that is to be taken seriously than a chaotic, lively trend journal. With various panel discussions, literary evenings and award ceremonies, theperspektive is once again integrated into a lively platform that traces current trends in political opinion-forming and cultural development.
 
All in all, a platform for cultural and political debate, representation and enlightenment. But how does this platform function for readers as a whole - and above all: What keeps the motivation and the newspaper afloat?

 
WW: How did the idea of a reader newspaper come about in the first place?
I generally have the feeling that user-generated content is a trend, even in large media companies. Watson, for example, is doing this very well. They have their own section for reader input and include many tweets in their texts. Meanwhile, SRF also has an app with a prominent "eyewitness" button. A good example is the accident with a crane that was too high to fit under the bridge. This scene was also filmed right away. This is a special and interesting development in general. And we have tried to fill a whole issue like that. Successfully for three and a half years.

Is dieperspektive a Zurich city magazine?
The focus tends to be on the city of Zurich, but we also have subscribers from various urban German-speaking areas of Switzerland. Of our readers, those who contribute are also rather active in other ways. That means they take part in our discussions, participate online with contributions or comments. After all, we also organize panel discussions, all of which are intended to encourage readers not only to behave as consumers, but also to actively participate. For example, we hold a panel discussion for every vote in which three people who have nothing to do with politics take part. They are Philipp Meier (social media editor at Watson), Kafi Freitag (blogger) and Rino Borrini (editor at Punkt Magazin). They start the discussion, with the aim that the whole audience joins in. We make sure that the number of participants is limited to about 20 people. After 40 people, it becomes difficult to allow everyone who wants to speak to do so.

Was there an idea from the very beginning to combine a reader newspaper with events?
At the very beginning, we simply wanted to create a reader-generated print newspaper. Then, relatively quickly, we also published articles online. Especially on topics that are also time-critical. We then started to build up the events about two and a half years ago, as a third mainstay. We only published individual texts from the print edition online. But now, for example, we also have independent columns that only appear online.

Would you describe theperspective as a cultural, political current?
That is certainly the case. It's also our goal that people can engage with us through different channels. We certainly have people who take part in discussions like crazy in battles of words, but would never write a text. In which form one finally expresses oneself is irrelevant to us. The main thing is to express yourself in some form. Today, it's easy to get the impression that this is the case with all newspapers and platforms, that you can contribute. But that's only true to a limited extent. Most of the time, it's a vanishingly small percentage of readers who actually express themselves regularly in comments. In this respect, we are certainly a current. A current of people who like to develop new ideas through discourse and who are not put off by somewhat unwieldy and complicated trains of thought. We don't want to be something to consume, at dieperspektive you should participate.

What else do you think motivates dieperspektive readers to participate over an already relatively long period of time?
Good question - we haven't done any market research on that. I think many people appreciate the playfulness and directness of dieperspektive. We like to try things out (e.g. 20-minute copy, or the Zurich Capital Initiative) and sometimes cause a stir. Perfection is not our top priority. We all just do it on the side. As a reader or writer, you probably notice that. I assume that this relaxed manner of ours goes down quite well and is refreshing in the sometimes somewhat uptight media landscape, but still has depth. This balancing act between playfulness and profundity is what makes it work.

Is that already enough motivation for your readers? What about recognition?
Recognition is important. For most participants, the motivation is to see their text in a printed newspaper. That's something quite different from seeing your own sentences on the screen. In print, they lose their ephemerality and take on something so definitive. Of course, we also try to create other incentives. All contributors receive a subscription to perspektive and can attend our events free of charge. Of course, we would love to pay a salary to all our writers! But just for this statement our budget manager looks at me again punishingly. Unfortunately, we can't afford that (yet).

And what motivates you?
I've been studying journalism and communications for seven semesters now. The course is so dry that it's easy to get the impression that the media world consists of a handful of abstract theories. At dieperspektive, I can try something out. Even though we are a very small magazine, we still have to cover every area of an editorial office and a publishing house. That's extremely exciting and sometimes quite challenging. We actually learned everything according to the simple principle: Let's try it out!

Does dieperspektive also have censorship? Or does the editorial team record everything without comment?
There are relatively rare texts that are extremely meaningless, very sexist or glorify violence. Of course, we do not publish such contributions. Otherwise, however, we do not decide on publication as an editorial team. Instead, we have a public editorial meeting. This means that anyone who is interested can take part and join in the discussion. The goal in each case is to find a common consensus on which text should be published. This means that everyone must agree. Otherwise, we discuss until we all agree. Everyone involved must be able to stand behind it. After all, we all do this newspaper voluntarily, no one earns money from it. That's why it's all the more important that everyone is satisfied with the end product. At the editorial meetings, we also decide on the theme of the issue. The goal, however, would be to increase the number of free contributions that are sent in, regardless of the topic. Such input would also serve us well as a mirror from our environment, to find out what is burning under the nails of the readers.

This claim is delicately reminiscent of the Musenalp Express. In any case, the publisher of this newspaper was convinced that in the "crazy times of the time, the young generation needed a strong print medium in which they could present themselves, write themselves, and take photographs. And yet, in 1990, it was not really successful, the magazine became a trend magazine and the name Musenalp-Express disappeared. Will dieperspektive also become a trend magazine when the time comes?
We try by all means to weight the reader's opinion as the highest. Of course, a trend magazine would sell better, also in terms of advertisers. But that is not our claim. It is no longer possible for us to intervene; the newspaper has already taken on such a life of its own that we could not simply change its direction. Our readers don't suddenly start writing about the latest cashmere sweater from Globus. Our readers are not interested in that either - we can already read about that in Friday. Apart from that, that wouldn't fit into our concept of an independent reader newspaper at all.

In terms of layout, Dieperspektive appears rather calm and serious when I compare it with Kult magazine, for example, which seems much more colorful and lively. Is there a reason for this?
Originally, this was done with the idea of influencing the text as little as possible with the layout. The pure opinion should stand for itself. We don't want to interfere with the content through the form. But we also try to adapt the layout to the topic to a certain extent. However, the intention is to have a calm layout. The newspaper has the claim that it is not only about consumption, with as many pictures and light bars as possible. The texts are long and want to be read with the appropriate care. We convey depth even if they are "only" reader opinions. But these opinions should be paid attention to. Precisely because these people do not write by profession, new ideas come up. Our authors often have a different approach than a journalist who is already versed and entrenched in the respective topic.

Isn't it still difficult to find advertisers at all with such a concept?
Yes, it is - difficult and time-consuming. We also do the acquisition ourselves, without an agency behind us. So far, it has always been enough to cover the printing costs. But we don't need more than that.

Prefer to remain independent?
Publi-Reportagen have never happened with us in any case so far. And they never will. That's a no-go, of course. It has also happened that a company has sent us a text. But these are rejected at the public editorial meeting. Unless the idea is so interesting and relevant. But you know yourself how most media releases come across. We in the editorial team already have the journalistic claim not to do that. Although we don't monitor our readers in this respect either, of course.

Does that mean that dieperspektive has a clear ideology after all?
Depending on the issue, we have 30-50 different ideologies behind it. In our editorial team, everyone also has their own ideology. Some of us might want more politics, or art, but so far no specific ideology has ever predominated. But that changes constantly with the people who are there.

Do you also do data analysis online?
Google Analytics and a Word Press program. We use these, but relatively dilettantishly. We only look at what has been clicked on the most, but don't exploit the information further. We do it more out of interest about what is best received. And interestingly enough, we have a large readership online that is interested in the squatter scene. With these texts we have by far the most reach. For whatever reason. And sex sells. It's no different with us. Of course, titles are extremely important online. I'm a little reluctant to make a lurid title just to sell the text. But that is my personal opinion. In my opinion, a title should be representative for the text, Google Analytics or not.

Do you also advertise online for dieperspektive?
No, not at all. Our website would not have the reach for that.
 
dieperspektive is also present on Facebook?
Yes, but we're not really dependent on Facebook. Of course, a large proportion of online readers come via Facebook, which is becoming more and more the case in general - gaining customers via social media. But it's not our biggest discussion platform. We prefer it when people come to our events and discuss the respective topic in person on a smaller scale.

Do you already have plans for the future? Do you want to expand the concept?
We are now working on making the print newspaper thicker. Recently, dieperspektive is still published every two months, but with 40 pages of content. This also gives us the opportunity to design the magazine in a qualitatively good way. What we certainly want to do is a new homepage. Or rather, a contemporary online presence with responsive design. We also want to enable readers to post texts directly online. In addition, we currently have a literary event going on, "Treppentexte". It works on the same principle: anyone can come, doesn't have to register in advance, and there are no selection criteria. The only difference is that whistles from the audience should be taken as a sign to be quiet. We already have 30-40 people coming to this event. We are organizing this event in cooperation with the magazine Delirium, among others. Other collaborations are also already being planned. For example, an alternative World Cup program is planned with the "Let it out" board of trustees. And in August we will move to the Karl der Grosse Center. There will certainly be further collaborations. Such collaborations are extremely valuable, especially for us, in order to take advantage of synergies. I myself am very curious to see how it all turns out. We are moving in the direction of a community-based platform, but in contrast to the countless other platforms, we are mainly offline.

Ursina mason