Neue LZ: Editor-in-Chief Thomas Bornhauser leaves post after 20 years

The regional titles Neue Luzerner Zeitung and St. Galler Tagblatt are given a joint editor-in-chief at the behest of the owner NZZ (Werbewoche.ch reported). Thomas Bornhauser has decided to step down from the chief post in Lucerne as part of the reorganization, according to a statement from the NZZ media group on Wednesday.

Bornhauser intends to continue writing for the Neue Luzerner Zeitung. The details of this are not yet known. A date for the replacement has not yet been set, an NZZ spokeswoman said on request. In a transitional phase, he will continue to manage the business as editor-in-chief for the time being. Bornhauser has been at the helm of the Neue Luzerner Zeitung, which resulted from the merger of Luzerner Neuste Nachrichten and Luzerner Zeitung, since 1996. He successfully steered the civic-liberal newspaper through economically turbulent times for two decades.

Loyal readers

The only remaining regional daily newspaper in Lucerne has been able to count on a more or less loyal readership. Despite crumbling circulation, readership figures have been more stable in comparison with other Swiss-German dailies. The Neue Luzerner Zeitung, with its regional editions for Zug, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Uri, reaches around 294'000 readers. According to Wemf-Bulletin, the circulation is 122'401 copies. The editor-in-chief rarely took to the keys himself. Among other things, he commented on important votes and published a short, trenchant column every week in the Sunday edition of Zentralschweiz am Sonntag under the heading "Meine Woche" ("My Week").

Criticism of "campaigns

Bornhauser also had to listen to criticism from time to time. On several occasions, displeasure was expressed about his allegedly "authoritarian management style. In addition, the only remaining daily newspaper in Lucerne was occasionally accused of "campaign journalism," for example against an economics faculty at the University of Lucerne. Bornhauser, who lives in Zug, studied economics and international relations. Before his appointment as editor-in-chief, he worked for several years as an editor in various departments. From 1980 to 1983, Bornhauser worked as foreign editor at the Luzerner Tagblatt, then as foreign editor and sports editor at the Luzerner Neusten Nachrichten and finally as domestic editor at the NZZ. After a stint as head of information and press spokesman at the Association of Swiss Engineering Industries, he was editor-in-chief of the Luzerner Zeitung from 1993 until its merger two years later. (SDA)