The Basler Zeitung can no longer survive on its own in what is currently Switzerland’s strongest economic region and is selling itself to investors. And a week later, in Central Switzerland, the project for a new Obwalden Nidwalden Zeitung (ONZ) emerges as a countercyclical phenomenon. While the entire industry laments the crisis as if there were no tomorrow, a new newspaper is announced—and this, of all places, in structurally weak Central Switzerland, where the Neue Luzerner Zeitung has dominated the media landscape for years and where there is no shortage of competition from local advertising papers. And it’s not just any idealists behind the ONZ project, but local businesspeople and investors with a proven track record.
A media world turned upside down? It seems that way, but only at first glance. Small may be beautiful, but that’s not enough of an explanation. Have we, in the midst of all this crisis hysteria, overlooked something? The people in Nidwalden and Obwalden who are now seeking three million to launch their newspaper into orbit are certainly shrewd businesspeople. Urs Gossweiler, one of Switzerland’s few innovative publishers, is demanding generous payment—in advance—for his assistance across the Brünig Pass.
Anyone who buys ONZ shares may view part of the investment as a way to support their local community. And yet it looks like a good deal. That’s because the small and medium-sized newspapers—the B and C-tier titles of the Swiss press—have, on the whole, weathered the crisis far better than the big ones everyone talks about, simply because the latter never tire of complaining. Time and again, I see income statements that show positive figures for advertising revenue even for the past two years—or, if there are negative figures, they look far less dramatic than those of the big players.
The explanation is actually logical. Local and regional newspapers are not dependent on individual major advertisers or specific industries—and they are less severely affected by economic fluctuations because their advertising clients have fewer alternatives.
As far as ONZ is concerned, despite many decidedly positive signs, there are of course still question marks that should be viewed as residual business risk. The most important unanswered question: Is the market large enough to cover the project’s fixed costs? And secondly: Is it wise to publish the print edition twice a week, given that it’s well known that retail sales are concentrated primarily in the second half of the week? Finally: Will the Central Swiss manage to turn the costly online venture into a profitable business? (They would be the first to do so.) And, above all, will they manage to do so within a reasonable timeframe? After all, even the three million in venture capital won’t last forever.
The ONZ is an interesting field experiment, because there have long been many indications that reaching small, manageable communities through print media can indeed be profitable—provided that costs are kept under control. Last fall, I was invited to speak in a larger municipality in the Zurich Oberland, where a vibrant and well-produced village newspaper has been published for years—and remains profitable because the municipality is wise enough to provide only a modest financial contribution without interfering in its operations.
The savvy Oberlanders invited six similar newspaper models from the rest of Switzerland to present—and the presentations all painted the same picture: It’s possible, provided that editorial costs, in particular, are kept as low as possible.
In some places, this certainly borders on self-exploitation—which, admittedly, is a left-wing metaphor. To stick with this line of thinking: One could also speak of «citizen journalism,» a concept that has been touted in the online sphere for years but has never really taken off anywhere. However, this seems to be possible in good old print media. The experiment in Nidwalden and Obwalden will show whether such a business model is sufficient to provide decent compensation for journalistic work.
This article is from the current print edition of *Werbewoche*.
