News agencies express concern about Hungary's media law

The European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) is «deeply concerned» about the new Hungarian media law.  

The law represents a departure from the principle of freedom of the press, EANA wrote in a letter to the government and parliament in Budapest on Thursday, according to SDA. If misused, the new media law could lead to the suppression of the media and violate the basic principles of media freedom and independent reporting, explained EANA President Mika Pettersson, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Finnish news agency STT- Lehtikuva.
 
Founded in 1956, EANA's main objective is to ensure press freedom and independent reporting through suitable economic and legal framework conditions. The members of the alliance include the news agencies SDA (Switzerland), AFP (France), dpa (Germany), EFE (Spain), ANSA (Italy) and ITAR-TASS (Russia).
 

New management at Messerli

The management of the Swiss trade show stand construction company Messerli will be reorganized in the trade show and event construction division effective January 1, 2011.  

Roger Wyss, who has been with Messerli since 2005 as Head of Sales and a member of the Executive Board, will take over as CEO, according to a statement issued on Thursday. Juri Camagni, a long-standing member of the Executive Board, will act as CMO and Deputy Managing Director. The new management team can continue to count on Josef Stalder's many years of technical experience as a member of the Executive Board.
 
Andreas Messerli jun. has retired from his operational management activities and will remain active as Chairman of the Board of Directors. In future, he will concentrate exclusively on the strategic development of the Messerli Group. The Group currently comprises six companies with diverse expertise in the field of live communication and has around 280 employees.

 

Republica: Communication concept designed for Mediservice Vsao

Republica has designed a new communication concept for Mediservice Vsao-Asmac. The central idea is a fresh green apple.  

Mediservice Vsao supports doctors and their relatives as well as medical students with insurance solutions. The new communication concept developed by Republica is as fresh as an apple and yet serious in keeping with the industry, the agency writes in a press release. It includes a slight relaunch of the existing logo, the quality label "Mediservice proofed" and new imagery. The Bern-based agency has thus taken over the implementation of all below-the-line measures and is further establishing itself in the healthcare sector.
 
Responsible at Mediservice Vsao-Asmac: Team Mediservice Vsao-Asmac.Responsible at RepublicaBala Trachsel (overall responsibility), Christine Weber (consulting), Chris Morgan (CD), Katja Dürig, (graphics).

Handover at the top of SRG Ostschweiz

Erich Niederer has taken over the duties of president of SRG Ostschweiz from Gerhard Frey. Niederer will be elected president in May of next year.  

This was announced by the East Swiss Radio and Television Company (ORG) on Thursday, according to SDA. The 60-year-old Erich Niederer will be proposed to the general meeting for election. He was head of the East Switzerland regional studio of Radio and Television DRS for 16 years and then council clerk of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Niederer has replaced Frey, who was in charge of SRG Ostschweiz following the death of Dieter Niedermann.
 

Bakom takes aim again at "Health Consultation Hour

The television program «Gesundheit Sprechstunde» is once again under scrutiny by the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom). Bakom has imposed a fine of several thousand francs for alleged violations of sponsorship rules in twelve cases. Presse TV denies the allegations.  

This is not the first time that "Gesundheit Sprechstunde," produced by Ringier TV for Presse TV and broadcast on SF 1 on Saturday evenings, has been targeted by Bakom. This time it is about advertising appearances of several private clinics and a laboratory group. A Bakom spokesman confirmed to the news agency SDA a corresponding report by the Tages-Anzeiger on Thursday.
 
Presse TV described Bakom's accusations on Thursday as a "considerable encroachment on the journalistic freedom of the editorial design of the program." An appeal against Bakom's order will be filed with the Federal Administrative Court.
 

Roland Jeanneret resigns

At the end of the year, Roland Jeanneret—who served as Head of Communications until mid-2009 and remains the «voice of Swiss Solidarity» in German-speaking Switzerland to this day—will take early retirement.  

This was announced by Swiss Solidarity on Thursday, according to SDA. It will probably be more of a retirement, the Bernese is quoted in a media release. "And in the future, I would like to do more of what I feel like doing," the 63-year-old said. In the future, Jeanneret will take on a few more mandates for Swiss Solidarity.
 
The former radio journalist marked a key phase in Swiss Solidarity's development over the past 19 years, during which more than a billion Swiss francs in donations were collected. As early as summer 2009, Priska Spörri took over as Head of Communications and long-time employee Andreas Rüfenacht assumed the role of Delegate for German-speaking and Rhaeto-Romanic Switzerland.
 
The radio program "Glückskette aktuell" on Swiss Radio DRS 1 will be realized by Ladina Spiess in the new year. The radio journalist is thus devoting part of her work entirely to reporting on the foundation.
 

IPmedia launches WebTV channel for Zurich Airport

After a test phase of several months with a total of 38 published video contributions and a total of more than 70'000 video clicks, IPmedia launches in cooperation with Zurich Airport the WebTV-Channel AirportTV.ch. IPmedia launches the WebTV channel AirportTV.ch, another special interest channel on the Web TV portal InternetTV.ch.  

In the sections News, Airport Experience, Portraits & Professions, and Airport Services, the new Channel regularly from the world around flying and Zurich Airport.
 
In order to achieve the highest possible reach, a separate Facebook page will be launched in parallel with the start of AirportTV.ch, according to a statement. This will be operated in close cooperation with the main Zurich Airport page. Furthermore, selected contributions will also be embedded on the Zurich Airport website. Distribution via m.airportTV.ch enables access from all common mobile devices, including the iPad.

 

Evoq creates the Christmas campaign for Shoppi Tivoli

For Shoppi Tivoli's Christmas campaign, the Evoq agency has once again staged the brand ambassador DJ BoBo. In addition to the nationwide poster campaign, the campaign also includes all the indoor advertising, such as a "Päckli-Hüsli", stands for competition cards and CDs and lift posters.

The centerpiece of the Christmas implementation is the design of the DJ BoBo gift set. It contains the DJ BoBo Christmas CD specially compiled for Shoppi Tivoli, integrated in a matching greeting card. A handwritten Christmas greeting from DJ BoBo also adorns the set as a gift tag. The whole thing is packaged in a gift envelope with Christmas decorations and is therefore ready for under the Christmas tree.
 
The agency has also worked for Shoppi Tivoli in the areas of radio and social media. The radio campaign for the DJ BoBo CD and the changed opening hours in the run-up to Christmas have been broadcast since November. And last but not least, Evoq supports Shoppi Tivoli with its PR work, manages the website and populates its social media channels such as Facebook, twitter and youtube.
 

Program offensive 2011 at SSF

Swiss sports television SSF is planning various program additions for the new year. These range from top tennis with Roger Federer and the top US events of the NHL and NFL to the new casting show "Einer wie Beni Thurnheer".  

SSF wants to continue its strategy with new formats and exclusive live highlights and provide viewers with a variety of content in addition to the existing sports program. With the new formats and live events, the young sports channel is supplementing its program.
 
SSF has secured the rights to the US Ice Hockey League NHL. From February, former Swiss national team goalie Lars Weibel will host the weekly "NHL Swiss View" show on SSF. In addition to the NHL show and various live games, the rights to the biggest single event in the world, the Superbowl, will once again be held exclusively by SSF this year. Federer, Nadal and Co. will already be doing the honors on SSF at the turn of the year. From December 30 to January 1, 2011, SSF will broadcast the Mubadala World Tennis Championship live and exclusively from Abu Dhabi. Another major project at SSF is the talent show "Einer wie Beni Thurnheer", in which the "Schnurri der Nation" is looking for new presenter talent together with Claudia Lässer.

Beverage recycler seeks media agency

PET Recycling Switzerland and IGORA are looking for a media agency. An independent consultant has been commissioned to conduct the evaluation.  

To ensure that recycling rates remain at a high level, collection and return must be continuously stimulated. Communication is therefore of great importance. To optimize the use of communication, IGORA and PET-Recycling Switzerland have decided to look for a new media agency together. With a single agency and joint planning, the otherwise independently operating companies want to make better use of the synergies between the collection organizations. The agencies that are finally shortlisted will be invited to make a presentation.
 
However, as agency evaluations are time-consuming, the two organizations commissioned an independent expert to carry out the evaluation. The independent media expert Andy Lehmann from Zurich was entrusted with the evaluation and monitoring of the process. He has worked in the Swiss media world for 30 years, including 16 years as a managing director in media agencies.

Ringier Germany with new Managing Director

Ringier has appointed a new managing director for its publishing business in Germany. Rudolf Spindler will take over the position in May 2011.  

Spindler was Managing Director of the Süddeutsche Zeitung magazine for ten years. He only joined Süddeutsche Zeitung in June of this year as head of the Magazine, Product Development and Marketing department. Spindler's predecessor Martin Paff had worked for Ringier since 2003 and was involved in the development of the political magazine Cicero and the art magazine Monopol, as Ringier announced on Wednesday. Paff wants to devote himself to new tasks. However, Ringier added that the publishing house would be delighted if Paff decided to continue working for the Group.

Crome: Caught in the net for Roger Federer

Two Basel-based agencies—Crome Communications and Cab Services—are making a splash together with the new official website for the Swiss world tennis star.  

The Crome advertising agency worked to Rogerfederer.com Crome worked closely with cab's web specialists from the outset to ensure that design and technology would work together. The design concept created by Crome and the screen design based on it rely on classic, clear and straightforward graphics. The main technical challenge was the enormous amount of data: the community platform has over 300,000 registered users and 2.5 million posts, writes Crome in a press release.
 
Roger Fererer's new official website runs on Typo3 and offers various functions. For example, the private messaging application already manages over 900,000 messages between Roger Federer fans. The fully automated career statistics record all tournaments back to 1994 and update the values after each individual match. Videos are seamlessly integrated via Facebook and YouTube, including a commentary function. The website gained more than 6,000 new registered users in the first five weeks, including 2,000 via the Facebook Connect function.
 
Responsible at Crome: Bernhard Wenger (Creative Direction), Nicole Wermelinger (Consulting), Andreas Bloser (Art Direction/Screen Design).

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