Berner Oberland Medien cuts 4.5 jobs
Starting June 1, the Thuner Tagblatt and Berner Oberländer newspapers will partially merge their editorial staffs. This will result in the elimination of 4.5 positions.
Oberland Medien, which is 50 percent owned by Tamedia, justifies the move with declining circulation and lower advertising revenues. Managing Director Konrad Maurer confirmed a corresponding statement by the journalists' association Impressum on Friday. However, there can be no question of a thinning out of media diversity, as Impressum writes, Maurer emphasized to the news agency SDA. "We will offer almost the same product."
The editorial team in Interlaken will now focus exclusively on reporting on the eastern Oberland. The western Oberland will now be covered from Thun. This will enable savings to be made in terms of shifts. 130 of the 450 full-time equivalents relate to the elimination of the secretariat in Interlaken.
The standard Tamedia redundancy plan will be applied to those affected. Maurer assumes that 160 job percentages can be reduced through voluntary reductions in workload.
The two titles have been managed by a joint editor-in-chief since January 2016. The 45-year-old Stefan Geissbühler previously headed the Thuner Tagblatt. The national section of both papers is sourced from the Berner Zeitung. Oberland Medien is 50 percent owned by Tamedia and 50 percent by Schläf-li&Maurer. (SDA)
