The Basler & Hofmann agency has won the mandate from the City of Zurich's environmental and health protection department for the communication of Öko-Kompass and energy coaching. The agency has been commissioned to establish the new environmental consultancy Öko-Kompass among SMEs in the city of Zurich. At the same time, homeowners are to be made aware of the need to renovate their properties and recruited for energy coaching, the agency writes in a press release. With these offers, the city of Zurich wants to come a step closer to the goal of the 2000-watt society in two important areas.

In the second week of September, a children's daytime show was broadcast on Schweizer Fernsehen SF at 6 pm. It has now received high marks from the Audience Council. The programs produced by pupils from Dübendorf ZH were anything but a school play.
Overall, the Council considered the experiment a success. According to a statement from the Public Council on Thursday, the students were able to dispel the concerns and fears expressed in advance. They had produced professional contributions under professional guidance and demonstrated their affinity with the media. SF's information service was "not or at least not seriously" affected by the children's daytime show.

The Bern-Mitteland Investigating Magistrate’s Office III has decided not to pursue criminal charges against the Berner Zeitung (BZ) and, specifically, journalist Adrian Zurbriggen for two violations of official secrecy in connection with the social assistance debate in the city of Bern. According to the decision, the public interest in the facts that were made public outweighs the breach of official secrecy. However, the decision is not yet final, as the deadline for filing an appeal is still open, Investigating Judge Philip Karnusian explained on Friday in response to a query from the SDA.
In July 2008, the BZ had quoted from the then-unpublished report of the Social Assistance Committee of the City Council’s Commission for Education, Social Affairs, and Culture (SBK). In February 2009, the BZ published excerpts from the confidential minutes of an SBK hearing with the city’s financial inspector, Beat Büschi. Both cases concerned the debate over irregularities in the City of Bern’s Social Affairs Department. In both cases, the City Council’s office filed criminal complaints for breach of official secrecy.
Following the revelation of the «BMW case» this summer and the ensuing debate on social assistance fraud, the public would be very interested to know how the city’s Social Services Department operated and how taxpayer money is used for social assistance, Espace Media quotes the decision in a press release. In contrast, the interests of keeping the report and the meeting minutes confidential would «clearly» take a back seat. The Berner Zeitung welcomes the decision as a victory for press freedom and critical reporting in the public interest, writes the media group Espace Media—to which the Berner Zeitung belongs—in a statement released on Friday.

Content has been shared between the *Tages-Anzeiger* and *Der Bund* since May of this year. A joint editorial office covering the Federal Parliament has been operational at the *Tages-Anzeiger* and *Der Bund* since early September. Starting October 15, the collaboration will be further intensified: the two newspapers will adopt a uniform layout.
The layout was designed by Zurich-based designers Tom Menzi and Daniel Stähli—in collaboration with *Der Bund* layout artist Anita Pascarella and Barbara Birchler from the Espace IT department. «It became clear early on in the planning process that such a symbiosis would only be viable if the two papers had a consistent layout,» writes Der Bund online. The Tamedia Board of Directors issued the following directive for the layout: The layouts of the two newspapers should be as similar as necessary and as different as possible.
The Tagi will hit the market with a new look early next week, and the Bund on October 15. Both will use the same «Publico» typeface family. In addition, the Bund will once again be published in a five-column layout. Furthermore, the designers and graphic artists have incorporated a number of unique elements that are specific to one newspaper or the other, according to Derbund.ch. A “Bund-blue” line will run through the entire paper and expand into a bar of the same color on single-topic pages.

The publisher of the daily newspaper *Die Südostschweiz* aims to cut costs by two million francs by the end of 2010. One of the measures is to increase the weekly workweek from 40 to 42 hours starting next year. According to publisher Hanspeter Lebrument, conditions have deteriorated, and sources of revenue—such as advertising—have dried up. He shared this information on Friday with the Regionaljournal Graubünden, a program on Swiss Radio DRS.
The cost-cutting measures will affect the 50 to 60 percent of the approximately 1,000 employees who track their working hours. In addition, certain positions will not be filled after employees leave. Other measures include, among other things, requiring employees to pay half of the premium for daily sickness benefit insurance, which was previously paid in full by the company.
However, the company has decided against implementing short-time work, as the media company wants to manage without government assistance, Lebrument added. According to SDA, Südostschweiz Medien generated 133 million francs in revenue last year and posted a profit of 4.1 million francs.

Pro Senectute, Switzerland's professional and service organization serving the elderly, is joining forces with Swisscom and media partner Schweizer Familie to call for a Switzerland-wide campaign on Thursday, October 1, 2009, to promote social contact in old age. With the slogan "Remember. Call.", the Jung von Matt/Limmat agency has launched a campaign for Pro Senectute.
On the occasion of the UN International Day of Older Persons, the older generation is to be remembered nationwide and a close older person is to be called. Limited participation opportunities in relationship care burden many affected older people more than the material undersupply, writes the agency in a message. Every year, around 34,000 men and women turn to the 130 counseling centers of the Pro Senectute organizations seeking help.
Social contacts provide security. This is precisely where Pro Senectute comes in with the campaign and the telephone chains for senior citizens, which will be launched in German-speaking Switzerland in January 2010. The campaign was designed by Jung von Matt/Public Relations. The accompanying communication includes a picture brand, media relations, banners, social awareness clips and a media partnership with Schweizer Familie. Swisscom is drawing attention to the campaign with a promotion in selected Swisscom stores, offering customers the opportunity to call someone free of charge.
Responsible at Pro Senectute Switzerland: Werner Schärer (Director), Carmen Stenico, (Head of Marketing and Communication), Katja Nanzig (Marketing and Communication Specialist), Judith Bucher (Media Officer). Responsible at Jung von Matt/Limmat: Melanie Schneider, Andrea Gnädinger, Milena Silvestri (concept, consulting, PR), Tom Seinige, Lukas Frei (creative direction), Samuel Wicki (text), Martin Zürcher (graphics), Matthias Adolf, David Lüscher, Bruno Manser (digital media), Ilonka Galliard, Didi Knall (art buying), Luki Frieden (direction), Absolutturnus Film (film production), Kirschnermusic (sound).

For the 22nd consecutive year, the Swiss business magazine *Bilanz* has conducted its annual rating of Swiss companies’ annual reports. The travel group Kuoni topped this year’s ranking, ahead of Credit Suisse and Novartis. The ranking is compiled in collaboration with the Harbour Club, the professional association of Swiss chief communications officers. Four different juries evaluate approximately 240 annual reports.
In addition to the overall evaluation, ratings are assigned in the individual categories of design and information content; for the first time, an Internet ranking is also being conducted. Kuoni also took first place in the individual design competition category. The Baselland Cantonal Bank and Migros took the next two spots. In the competition for the best result in the “Information” category, the specialty chemicals group Sika took first place, ahead of Roche and Syngenta. The top spot in the inaugural Internet ranking went to the Schaffhausen-based technology company Georg Fischer, followed by Credit Suisse and Roche.

The agency Scholz & Friends Switzerland has won the below-the-line account for Credit Suisse’s CS Private & Business Banking Division Switzerland. In a pitch, the agency—which has offices in Zurich and Basel—prevailed over four competitors. The collaboration will begin in the fall of 2009, as the agency states in a press release. Going forward, it will be responsible for developing and implementing integrated communication strategies for all customer segments within Credit Suisse’s Private and Business Banking divisions.

After eight years, the Solothurner Tagblatt will be published for the last time on Saturday. For financial reasons, Tamedia—the owner of Espace Media—is discontinuing the regional edition of the Berner Zeitung. The editorial staff bids farewell with a look back.
Across several pages of the newspaper, the editors look back on the most important events and episodes, as Fabian Schäfer, interim editor-in-chief, told the SDA on Friday in response to an inquiry. The most popular columnists are putting pen to paper once again. Among others, the issue will feature pieces by political satirist Andreas Thiel and Solothurn-based philosopher and former Swiss Guard member Reto Stampfli. Stampfli wrote the «Gedankensprünge» column between 2002 and 2009.
The regional edition had been launched to compete with the Solothurner Zeitung. With a circulation of about 10,000 copies and 4,500 paid subscriptions, the Solothurner Tagblatt incurred cumulative losses of about 35 million francs.

The international packaging company Tetra Pak has launched a new environmental campaign. The ad’s tagline is «The future belongs only to what grows back.» At the center of the campaign is Bob—a rabbit. He explains how using Tetra Pak beverage cartons can help conserve the Earth’s natural resources.
Hase has recently been promoting this message in a TV commercial that airs on SF 1, SF zwei, and 3+, as well as during Swiss commercial breaks on major German private broadcasters. To accompany this, print ads are being placed in various well-known publications. With this environmental campaign, the company aims to underscore its consistent commitment to sustainable product development and climate protection, the agency stated in a press release on Friday. Tetra Pak’s beverage packaging consists primarily of wood, a renewable raw material. The company sources the wood it uses from forests managed responsibly and in an environmentally sound manner. To prevent a decline in tree populations, only as much wood is harvested as can be replenished through reforestation. In addition, Tetra Pak has already converted several production sites worldwide to renewable energy.
To the spot

The commuter newspaper Le Matin Bleu was published for the last time on Friday. Starting next Monday, there will be only one free newspaper left in western Switzerland. It will be called 20 minutes.
The new commuter newspaper will «combine the best elements of both papers,» said Tristan Cerf on the French-Swiss radio station Couleur 3. The plan is for the new free newspaper to bring together the news from *20 minutes* and the magazine sections from *Le Matin Bleu*. The first issue of the new commuter newspaper is scheduled to be published in early November.
Le Matin Bleu was published for four years. According to SDA, the merger of the two commuter newspapers resulted in the loss of 20 of the 70 total jobs across both newsrooms. Because some employees had already left the companies prior to the merger, there were ultimately ten layoffs. Discussions are underway between Tamedia and Edipresse to minimize the impact of these measures as much as possible. Another meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday.

The Competition Commission (Weko) has approved the merger of the early-morning delivery organizations of Swiss Post, the NZZ Group, and Tamedia. However, the publishers are not permitted to participate in the delivery organization, as this would give them a dominant market position, Weko stated in a press release on Friday. Without the NZZ Group and Tamedia as customers, another distributor would find it difficult to establish itself.
Publishers must now sell their existing delivery operations, but cannot become co-owners of the joint early-morning delivery service. The restructuring is not expected to change anything for the delivery personnel. Swiss Post plans to continue operating both existing distribution networks with the same staff, as Swiss Post spokesperson Richard Pfister told the SDA in response to an inquiry. However, he noted that it is still too early to provide specific details.
In a joint statement, Swiss Post and the two publishing houses said they regret the conditions imposed by the Competition Commission. However, Tamedia spokesperson Christoph Zimmer said, when asked, that they do not plan to file a complaint. The new delivery system is now to be implemented as quickly as possible.
The Weko also reviewed the simultaneous transfer of a majority stake in the Search.ch internet portal from Swiss Post to Tamedia. The Weko further stated that it had concluded that joint control of Search.ch by Swiss Post and Tamedia posed no concerns. Tamedia is acquiring a 75 percent stake in Räber Information Management, which operates the online portal. According to the company, the portal reaches over 2.5 million customers in Switzerland, making it the second-most-visited website. Swiss Post will retain a 25 percent stake in Search.ch.