NZZ: Open letter warns of shift to the right
In a letter to the editorial board, more than 60 NZZ correspondents expressed their concern that «the culture of a liberal and cosmopolitan NZZ» is in danger .
The reason is rumors about the appointment of a right-wing conservative successor to the dismissed editor-in-chief Markus Spillmann - the most recent talk was of Basler Zeitung boss Markus Somm, an admirer of SVP chief strategist Christoph Blocher. The letter asks the NZZ's editor-in-chief to insist on the editorial board's right to be heard. The NZZ editorial board in Zurich will address a letter to the board of directors on Tuesday.
"Even after Somm's cancellation, we are deeply concerned about the future of the NZZ. Should the political direction in which a search for a new editor-in-chief has apparently been conducted be confirmed, we condemn these plans in the strongest possible terms," reads the letter presented in Monday evening's "10vor10" program on Swiss television SRF.
The letter goes on to say: "With the election of an editor-in-chief with right-wing conservative leanings, the liberal journalism and culture of the NZZ have fallen by the wayside. We are fighting this with all our might." The letter was also available in full on the website of SRF to read. NZZ-online merely summarized the content. (SDA)
