The Finnish cell phone world market leader Nokia is implementing its savings targets from January and plans to cut 1,700 jobs worldwide. In addition to the mobile phone division, jobs in marketing, development and customer service are also affected, as the company announced in Helsinki on Tuesday. Further measures are being examined.
At the end of 2008, the Finnish group employed 128,000 people worldwide. When announcing its annual results, Nokia set a target of 700 million euros in cost savings for 2009. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the company sold 113 million cell phones, 15 percent less than in the previous year.

To promote the new concept of Ruckstuhl Garages, Marti & Partner got the owner Martin Ruckstuhl himself in front of the camera. In a spot, Ruckstuhl announces that the company will pay out a scrapping premium of up to 7,000 Swiss francs for the old car when a new car is purchased. The 30-second spot will run from Wednesday, March 18, on Tele Züri and Tele Top and will be supported by numerous accompanying measures in the online and offline sectors.
Responsible at Ruckstuhl Garages: Martin Ruckstuhl, Toni Suter. Responsible at Marti & Partner: Peter Marti (Concept), Anita Kittel (Consulting&Media). Film: Streun Communications.
To the spot

Swiss Television SF has drawn a positive balance for the past year. In 2008, SF was able to increase its market share by 0.7 percent. The all-day average share was 43.2 percent, while the evening average was 43.9 percent. The good results were primarily due to Euro 2008 and the Olympic Games, as SF announced on Tuesday.
Deltenre on the merger of Radio DRS and SF
The merger of Radio DRS and Swiss Television should be driven forward, according to the demand made by television director Ingrid Deltenre at the annual media conference in Zurich on Tuesday. The reason for this is primarily economic pressure. It will be financially tougher for SF, advertising revenues will at best stagnate in 2009, if not fall significantly.
However, moving radio and television closer together not only makes sense for economic reasons, but also offers a great opportunity, Deltenre continued. It puts employees in a position to offer an even more diverse range of services. Media use is becoming increasingly multimedia with cell phones and podcasts. The aim is to participate in this development so as not to lose young users.
Day and Night" was flop of the year
Deltenre described the in-house production "Day and Night" as the flop of 2008. The series failed with audiences and was moved to the Sunday early evening program until its cancellation in the summer. Nevertheless, the in-house production of series is not dead. A project group is currently working on a follow-up concept.

Although information - and rumors - about the planned convergence of radio and television are constantly leaking to the media through leaks in the SRG system, the SRG German-speaking Switzerland department still seems to be vehemently resisting a public discussion. Now they are even handing out muzzles. Last Friday, Viktor Baumeler, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SRG Deutschschweiz, sent an e-mail to the regional councillors of SRG Deutschschweiz asking them not to provide any more information to the media until the two boards of directors have made their decisions. As the Berner Zeitung wrote on Tuesday, the muzzle even applies to the presidents of the member companies of SRG Deutschschweiz.
The timing of the e-mail is particularly interesting: the message was sent just a few hours after the publication of an interview with Dieter Niedermann in the Berner Zeitung, in which the President of SRG Eastern Switzerland sharply criticized the actions of the national SRG. He seemed to have hit a sore spot. Among other things, Niedermann criticized the SRG Director General for using his power to the limit. Now Armin Walpen, who was attacked, can breathe a sigh of relief as he also received - for his information - the muzzle message.

The gossip continues - despite the ban on talking
Despite the muzzle, SRG does not appear to be immune to nasty comments. After all, the ban on speaking does not apply to former SRG employees. Former TV director Peter Schellenberg made use of this when, in an interview with the Zofinger Tagblatt, he was extremely critical of SRG's communication policy - that of Armin Walpen in particular: "It is completely inexplicable to me how one can proceed in this way.". This is mainly due to the structure of SRG; the Director General simply has too much power, Schellenberg continued. "SRG is the only major journalistic company that does not separate money and spirit."
It won't be too long now until the SRG Board of Directors makes its decision. Then hopefully the ban on speaking and secrecy will be over. Good communication is half the battle - or is it?

Two type designers from Veer, a manufacturer and supplier of photography, illustration and typefaces, have won awards at the 55th Type Directors Club (TDC) International Competition. Stephen Rapp was chosen for his script font "Montague," and Alejandro Paul received an award for "Adios." Both won in the "Script Displays" category.
Around 165 creations from a total of 26 countries were submitted to the competition. The typefaces were selected under the guidance of a jury consisting of experts and fellow designers. The award-winning works can be seen on the TDC homepage.

"Montague" by Stephen Rapp: The modern calligraphic script is based on letters written with a sable brush on smooth parchment.

"Adios" by Alejandro Paul: The type designer drew inspiration for this romantically decorative font from designs in 1940s lettering guides, but evolved it through a palette of ornate decorative letters.

The Swiss writing scene is launching Textin, a new magazine for copywriters and authors. The magazine features news, reports and interviews on the topic of text and the everyday life of authors. Textin is published four times a year, twice online and twice in print. The magazine is supported by an association. The first online edition will be available at Textin.ch from March 18, 2009.

In 2008, the MCH Group, formerly MCH Swiss Exhibition, achieved the second-best result in the company's history. This was despite the fact that, compared with the record year of 2007, a number of major exhibitions were not on the event calendar. Thanks to additional income in the service sector for the events held each year, it was possible to largely compensate for the corresponding drop in sales.
The consolidated result is an income of 336.4 million, the consolidated balance sheet total at the end of the reporting year is 520.7 million, with a debt component of 313.3 million and an equity component of 207.4 million.

Since Tuesday, news has been shown on flat screens on the buses of the St. Gallen public transport company VBSG. These are prepared by the online editorial team of the St. Galler Tagblatt. As the Tagblatt informed SDA on Monday, the online editorial team sends the messages directly to the VBSG buses via the mobile phone network. In this way, around 20 reports from the region, Switzerland and abroad, on sport and the weather, run one after the other across the screens.
In Aarau and Wettingen, the Aargauer Zeitung is already broadcasting news on the buses in the towns, and messages from the company Livesystem are being displayed on the Marzili train in Bern.
The St. Galler Tagblatt is now considering broadcasting news on screens in its own restaurant.

Google and the European Pressphoto Agency (epa) have signed an agreement on the provision of epa content on Google News: The agreement enables users to access original texts and images from the online services of eight of the eleven news agencies belonging to the epa. Over the next few months, Google will set up a link to the news sources so that users can go directly to the original articles.
The agreement is of particular importance for news agencies, as they will now be clearly recognized and acknowledged as the source of the original content they produce, Walter Grolimund, Chairman of the Epa Supervisory Board, was quoted as saying in a press release on Tuesday. In addition, the agencies will have the opportunity to generate new revenue for all articles visited via Google News thanks to the advertising revenue shared with Google, the press release continues.

Free newspapers are also well received by managers. This was revealed in the latest MA Leader 2009 study by Wemf. The three free newspapers included in the study (20 Minuten, News and Cash) achieve a readership share of 55.9 percent among executives in German-speaking Switzerland, and even 60.4 percent among so-called top leaders. The commuter newspaper 20 Minuten alone reaches 35 percent of the executives surveyed, more than any other weekday newspaper. Only the NZZ, the Sonntagszeitung and the NZZ am Sonntag are read more frequently by so-called top leaders than the free newspaper 20 Minuten. The German-language magazines Das Magazin and Geo are also very popular with Swiss executives. In French-speaking Switzerland, Le Matin Dimanche is in first place among both the Top Leaders and the Leaders with a reach of over 40 percent.
Every two years, Wemf surveys Swiss managers and decision-makers in politics, public authorities and business about their consumption and reading habits. These results are listed in the MA Leader. The survey was conducted between September 22 and November 23 using around 2500 interviews in German-speaking Switzerland and 740 interviews in French-speaking Switzerland. According to the new Wemf definition, the most important criterion for leaders in the MA Leader study was a personal gross annual income of at least CHF 100,000. In the study, top leaders are defined by an annual income of at least CHF 140,000 and a position as employer or supervisor - whether freelance, employed or academic - of at least one employee.

The takeover of the Solothurn-based Vogt-Schild Group by AZ Medien and the discontinuation of the business newspaper Cash have triggered initial reactions from Comedia and Impressum. As the media union reported in a communiqué, these changes once again represent a serious break in the Swiss print and media industry. The process of concentration and restructuring reached a climax two weeks ago with the takeover of Edipresse by Tamedia and is now continuing unabated.
Comedia demands support measures from the public sector
The current economic crisis and a policy of the major publishing houses focused on increasing profits will put enormous pressure on the number and quality of jobs in the coming months, the union continued in the press release. In view of the worrying developments, it is calling for an urgent public sector crisis program for the industry.
Comedia attached the following conditions to such support measures: Companies would have to undertake to examine or apply for the introduction of short-time working before any redundancies are made. In addition, companies would not be allowed to make any redundancies as long as the 18-month entitlement period for short-time working has not been exhausted. In addition, the substantial aid would be limited to companies that respect collective labor agreements in both the graphic arts and journalism sectors.
In addition, following the conclusion of the CLA in the graphic arts industry, the media union is now calling on the publishers in German-speaking Switzerland to immediately enter into negotiations with Comedia and Impressum for a CLA for the editorial offices in German-speaking Switzerland.
Imprint calls on Ringier to refrain from layoffs
Impressum, the largest professional association of Swiss journalists, is on the one hand relieved about the existence of a social plan following the closure of the daily newspaper Cash, according to a statement from Impressum. At the same time, however, the association is dismayed that Ringier has brought forward the closure by around three years. The association is now calling on Ringier to refrain from making redundancies and to continue to train and employ the affected employees within the company. A leap into a purely electronic age of the economic and financial platform should not be accompanied by the loss of journalistic jobs and thus journalistic quality.
Impressum is in contact with affected employees and the Ringier staff committee and will work with its members to find a socially acceptable solution.

The majority shareholder of the Vogt Schild Medien Group, the Gottlieb and Hans Vogt Foundation, has decided to sell its stake to Aargauer Zeitung Medien with retroactive effect from January 1, 2009. The takeover is intended to ensure the long-term development of the Solothurner Zeitung, according to a statement from AZ Medien and the majority shareholder. Christian Müller, head of Vogt-Schild Medien, will retire in May - a successor has not yet been appointed.
The publishing house previously held a 35 percent stake in Vogt-Schild. The takeover of the Vogt-Schild Medien Group had been a goal for a long time, CEO of AZ Medien Peter Wanner told SDA. Synergies are available above all in IT and the advertising market. A project group is now working out the possibilities for cooperation. There are no plans to cut jobs as a result of the takeover. However, a savings program is being worked out independently of the takeover.
The Solothurn Vogt-Schild Group includes the daily newspaper Solothurner Zeitung, the Grenchner Tagblatt, the Langenthaler Tagblatt and the Berner Rundschau. These papers are already working together as part of the Mittelland-Zeitung.
Government agrees to change the purpose of the foundation
The Solothurn cantonal government approved the takeover of the Vogt-Schild Medien Group on Tuesday morning. At its meeting, the Solothurn cantonal government had to decide on the change to the foundation purpose of the previous majority owner.
Board of Directors reduced in size
As a result of the takeover, the Board of Directors of Vogt-Schild will be reduced by one to four members, according to a statement from AZ Medien and the majority shareholder. Jürg Schärer (Chairman), Peter Wanner (Delegate) and Georg Müller (Member) will join the Board. The subsequent addition of a representative from the canton of Solothurn to the Board of Directors remains open, the press release continues.