The Swiss Press Council criticizes a report of the Basler Zeitung (BaZ). In an article of October 11, 2008, about an officially approved hemp field in Rümlingen BL, the author had spread rumors and suspicions concerning drugs or drug trafficking. She gave the full name of the tenant and mentioned a conditional prison sentence of 2004 that had been handed down against him as an assistant in the cultivation of hemp plants containing high levels of THC. "Press-ethically interesting and problematic" is according to the press council thereby the basic tone of the short report. The author had found nothing to indicate that hemp cultivation violated any laws. However, the author contrasts these facts with "a series of suspicions and anonymously expressed rumors.

Tenant moved into the twilight
The article puts the tenant "in the twilight of criminality" and approaches crime reportage in its tendency - only "that it unfortunately lacks the necessary crime to do so." The mention of the previous conviction serves in the context of the article "only as an apparent support of the rumors, for which the author can provide otherwise no evidence". This, however, was contrary to journalistic professional ethics and violated the privacy of the tenant. Likewise, there had been no public interest. Also, by providing information to the author, the tenant had not implicitly consented to the naming of the author.
BaZ, on the other hand, had asserted tacit consent and a public interest to the Press Council: anyone who earned income from hemp cultivation and endangered public safety could not invoke the right not to be named.

In future, posters for municipal and cantonal votes may also be put up on public land in the city of Schaffhausen. Previously, this was only permitted for elections, the city council announced on Tuesday. The city council is thus changing the practice of putting up political posters. Following a discussion with the political parties, it was decided that a limited number of posters and banderoles can now also be placed on public land for cantonal and municipal votes.
Posters are restricted to certain locations and a fixed number of posters and banderoles and are subject to approval. They may be displayed for a maximum of four weeks before a ballot and must be removed three days after the vote.

The Zurich agency Design Labor has launched a new website for Bernecker Verlag Schweiz, a publisher of stock market newsletters. According to Zoran Bozanic, founder and managing director of the agency, the new online presence is intended to impress with a contemporary design and a simple and clear structure. The advertisers have also developed a completely new corporate design for the publishing house, which has been in existence for 50 years.

Responsible at Bernecker Verlag Switzerland: Christian Grisey (Managing Director). Responsible at Design Labor: Zoran Bozanic (concept and design), Eva Stiefel (film production) and Ivan Stokic (technology).

Internet television is steadily gaining reach. Around 500,000 Internet surfers use Zattoo's services on a regular basis. In total, the platform has over 1.1 million registered users, Beat Knecht, Managing Director of Zattoo, told the SDA news agency. In addition to SRG channels, ARD and ZDF, special interest channels such as Arte, Eurosport and local channels such as Tele Züri are also available. Wilmaa.com, a service provider that has only been in existence since the end of last year, also has over 235,000 users who regularly watch television. However, the selection of 32 channels is smaller than with Zattoo. Internet television is free with both providers - completely free with Wilmaa, while with Zattoo you pay a few francs per month for good quality.

Financing via advertising
Both providers are financed by advertising that is displayed when the service is started and when switching between TV channels. This can be sold quite expensively, as user profiles make it possible to address specific target groups. When registering, users must disclose personal information such as age, gender and place of residence. The providers also register which programs a particular person watches most frequently.
With this strategy, Zattoo was able to double its turnover compared to 2008 and reduce its costs by three quarters at the same time. Wilmaa also believes that it will soon be possible to earn money with the platform, as Managing Director Marie-Françoise Ruesch said.

Bernd Remmers Consultants, a company specializing in the design and implementation of change strategies and the strengthening of corporate cultures, is further expanding its consulting capacities and expertise. At the beginning of September 2009, Andreas Moser will take over as CEO for the first time from company founder and former Managing Director Bernd Remmers, who will act as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Most recently, Andreas Moser worked at Wärtsilä Switzerland, where he helped shape the reorganization of the company as Human Resources Director. He previously held top management positions - including Head of Corporate Communications and Head of HR Development - at Sunrise. Moser has a degree in business administration and worked for several years at the Institute for Business Research (Corporate Management and Policy) at the University of Zurich. Andreas Moser received his doctorate magna cum laude in 1995.

The Swiss registry for domain names Switch has founded the subsidiary Switchplus. The equal partner company will initially offer the registration of domain names. Additional services such as e-mail and web hosting are to follow later this year or at the beginning of 2010. Switch will remain the registry for .ch and .li domain names.
With the launch, Switch is making a contribution to securing its own future in the area of Internet domains. This is because the contract with the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) expires in 2015 and it is unclear whether and in what form a new contract will be concluded, the company wrote in a press release on Monday.

So far, less than five percent of internet users in Europe have paid for online content. The proportion is only higher among 16 to 24-year-olds. This age group spent money on around ten percent of content. This is according to a report by the European Commission. 50 percent of those surveyed are not prepared to pay for content in the future. 30 percent would be swayed by lower prices, according to Netzwoche.ch. A further 15 to 20 percent would pay something if the quality was improved and/or the selection increased. Only around 20 percent would be prepared to switch to paid content if there was no more free content.

The Second Chamber of the Swiss Commission for Fair Trading (SLK) recently upheld a complaint against a company that advertised its products as test winners. It is legitimate for companies to have their products tested and then communicate the results in their advertising. However, the requirements of the SLK's test guidelines must be met. Specifically, the case involved a company from the electric heating sector comparing its products with those of two others and advertising them as "Test winner - tested by the Swiss Electrotechnical Association (SEV)".
According to the SLK, this is unfair in two respects: This advertising gave the misleading impression that the product had been rated as the test winner in a general comparison of competitors not initiated by the respondent. However, this was not the case, as SEV had tested and certified certain heating elements but had not carried out any official tests in the sense of product tests. In addition, when test results are published, the source and publication date must be stated precisely. This means that only tests that have been published and are publicly accessible may be used for commercial communication. And it must be communicated exactly which specific properties or criteria were tested. Neither was the case in this advertisement. The SLK has therefore asked the company to refrain from advertising "test winner" in future.

The Media Focus report published on Monday shows that even the crisis takes a vacation. In July, gross advertising pressure remained slightly below the previous year's figure with a drop of 1.4%. In June, the decline was still 5.1 percent, in May it was as high as 17.1 percent. From a media perspective, the TV media group almost single-handedly ensured the good monthly result with an increase of just over 30% (+15 million Swiss francs). All other media groups, with the exception of the Internet, remained below the figure for the same month last year.
Nine key markets recorded double-digit percentage growth compared to the same month last year. The growth markets also include the two largest key markets, the vehicle and food sectors. In the "Vehicles" sector, the small car and lower mid-range segments in particular recorded growth, each with an increase of CHF 1.9 million compared to the same month last year. It is therefore not surprising that three car models were among the most advertised products in July: The VW Polo, Alfa Romeo Mito and Fiat 500 Cabriolet. Looking at 2009 as a whole (Jan - July), the upper mid-range segment saw by far the most significant growth (+4.5 million francs, 187 percent). The key market "personal care cosmetics" with an increase of 26.9 percent (+4 million Swiss francs) in the month of July is therefore also still above the previous year's level for the year as a whole.
The following key markets also closed July with significant gains: "Energy" (+31.2%), "Household goods" (+22.7%), "Tourism/transport" (+22.0%) and "Clothing/leisure/sport" (+16.9%).

(Source graphics and tables: Media Focus.)

Psychotherapy is going online. Apparently, direct contact between psychotherapist and patient is no longer always necessary for therapy to be successful. The Federation of Swiss Psychologists (FSP) is therefore now offering therapies on an internet platform. Scientific studies have shown that the effectiveness of online psychotherapy is comparable to that of on-site counseling. What's more, online therapy is apparently not only - as one might have assumed - effective for minor ailments. Even depression, anxiety or trauma can be treated just as well in the virtual practice room as in a conventional session. Clear advantages: The therapy is cost-effective and the patient no longer has to suffer agony when pouring their heart out to the therapist. The anamnesis is straightforward using an information form. It is probably less clear how trust, transference or counter-transference is built up online. Therapist and patient will hopefully meet on a different level, the unconscious will sort it out somehow.

Following an agency evaluation, Fleurop-Interflora Switzerland has decided to work with the advertising agency Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett in future. The agency has been commissioned with the entire brand identity. The first works will be on display from fall 2009.

Karin Lang-Riesen is joining the dialog marketing agency Publicis Dialog Schweiz as of September 1, 2009. The 35-year-old will join the management team as Head of Consulting. The federally certified marketing communications manager will work with Folker Wrage (Creative Management) and Erik Neumann (CEO) to drive forward the expansion of the company.
Karin Lang-Riesen comes from Assai Dialog + Digital, part of the Wirz Group, where she was a member of the management board for the last four years and built up the Dialog competence for the Wirz Group. Prior to that, she spent six years at Fisch.Meier.Direkt, which has been part of the Publicis Group since 2001 and was renamed Publicis Dialog in January 2008.