Scout 24 Switzerland has appointed Bernhard Bürki as its new Communication Manager. In this role, he will be responsible for internal and external communications for the network of online marketplaces, as detailed in a press release on Monday. The 37-year-old will also take on communication tasks for the Media Swiss Group, of which Scout 24 is a member. Media Swiss Group is a Ringier company.
Bürki was most recently media spokesperson at the Federal Office of Communications. He previously worked as a freelance journalist. He succeeds Stefan Hackh, who moved to Ringier Switzerland last year as Head of Communications.

The transfer of the early delivery activities of the NZZ Group and Tamedia media companies to Swiss Post, which was announced in fall 2008, is to be completed. The two media companies and Swiss Post have signed corresponding contracts in the last few days, according to a press release issued on Monday. The transactions have been reported to the Swiss Federal Competition Commission.
Following the approval of the Competition Commission, an efficient early delivery organization for German-speaking Switzerland is to be created under the management of Swiss Post, in which the NZZ Group and Tamedia will retain a 12.5 percent stake. At the same time as the transfer of early delivery, Tamedia is to acquire a majority stake in the internet portal Search.ch. The three companies will thus concentrate more on their core business.

Net-Metrix-Audit reports 2,005,000 unique clients for 20 Minuten Online in January 2009. This means that the website is currently the number 1 Swiss news portal. The sustainable growth strategy in the online sector with a targeted expansion of the online editorial team is thus bearing fruit, the publisher writes in a press release on Monday. 20 Minuten has thus overtaken Newsnetz, which was still ahead among news portals in October.
The sports, business and digital sections in particular recorded growth rates. "No other online medium in Switzerland can offer its users such a broad and at the same time immediate selection of content", Editor-in-Chief Hansi Voigt is quoted as saying in the press release. With the integration of Piazza.ch as of January 1, 2009, 20 Minuten Online is once again offering a service that builds on the former "Fundgrube" service and offers readers and users a classifieds marketplace. According to the press release, Piazza has contributed to its success with around 150,000 unique clients.
For the month of January 2009, the Net-Metrix audit for 20 Minuten Online shows 2,005,000 unique clients and over 120 million page impressions. The site is populated with content by an editorial team of over 40 people.

Since the beginning of the year, the baby website Nestlebaby.ch from Nestlé Nutrition. Closely linked to this site is a new newsletter program for pregnant women and mothers, which was also launched at the turn of the year. The measures were developed by Ogilvy Interactive.
The two communication platforms grow with the baby, according to a statement from the agency. This gives mothers access to lots of tips, advice and information at every stage of the baby's life. Mothers also have access to various tools such as interactive weight charts and personal online pregnancy and baby books.

The website of Zurich football club FCZ was the victim of a hacker attack by FCB sympathizers on Monday. Instead of the usual information, the site displayed the slogan "Only dead Zurich people are good Zurich people".
As the commuter newspaper Blick reported in the evening, it went on to say: "Now it's come to the point where you're even getting a slap in the face from us Baslers on the internet!" The FCZ acted immediately and took the page off the net. It was no longer available until the evening.

The German media showed great interest in the results of the Swiss referendum at the weekend. In France, England and Italy, however, the topic of the free movement of persons was practically non-existent. This was reported by the Tamedia news network on Sunday evening.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung in particular stood out with extensive reporting on its website. It devoted a lot of space to the Yes vote on the free movement of persons. It gave its prominently placed article the headline: "Swiss want open borders". Die Welt and Spigel Online also reported extensively. Spiegel wrote of a "clear commitment to relations with the EU". The article was illustrated by the SVP's raven poster.
The abolition of flat-rate taxation in the canton of Zurich was also reported on. "Farewell tax haven" was the headline in Süddeutsche Zeitung, for example. And Die Welt concluded: "Switzerland will now be more expensive for millionaires."
In other neighboring and EU countries such as Italy, France and England, the Swiss referendum results were hardly mentioned at all. Only the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on the "defeat for the isolationists", as well as the abolition of flat-rate taxation and the Davos Yes to the expansion of the Wef Congress Center.

Jürg Brauchli has decided to leave Tamedia at the end of March after more than 30 years and to contribute his broad experience in the media sector to new projects. Brauchli, a member of Tamedia's Management Board for 17 years, most recently headed the delivery organization project launched jointly with the NZZ Group. The project, which was launched under his leadership in January 2008, came to a successful conclusion last week with the signing of the contracts to transfer the delivery activities of the two media companies to Swiss Post.
Born in 1951, Brauchli joined the former Tages-Anzeiger AG in 1978. From 1990 to 2007, he was a member of the media company's management board and from 1999 to 2006 its deputy chairman. During this time, he was in charge of the Newspapers division and most recently the Printing & Logistics division. With the renewal of the newspaper printing presses, a new 6/2 press concept was introduced worldwide under his responsibility.
As the initiator of the cooperation between NZZ and Tamedia in the area of delivery, Brauchli also took over the chairmanship of the board of directors of the Zurich early delivery organization Zuvo in 1993. Under his leadership, Zuvo was able to build up holdings in several early delivery companies. Since 1998, Brauchli has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Berne-based distribution organization Bevo. Until the transfer to Swiss Post is completed, he will remain Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zuvo, a member of the Board of Directors of the various distribution organizations and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Printonline.

Nazi newspapers are back on newsstands in Germany. The free newspaper News reported on Monday that original copies of the "Völkischer Beobachter", Joseph Goebbels' propaganda sheet "Angriff" and the Nazi pamphlet "Der Reichstag in Flammen" have been loosely enclosed with the magazine Zeitungszeugen. 50 issues of the magazine are to be published in nine European countries, including Switzerland, by the end of the year.
For the English publisher Pete McGee, the educational value of the project takes precedence over the danger that neo-Nazis could misuse the texts for their own purposes. Stefan Kramer, Secretary General of the Central Council of Jews, takes a different view. According to the "Hitler sells" method, the magazine gives priority to commercial interests over well-founded education.
The Free State of Bavaria is censoring the literature project and has already confiscated around 2,500 copies, according to the news. Nevertheless, the publisher is said to have already sold 250,000 magazines.

Amrein-Pieren has developed a comprehensive CRM concept for Suchard to mark the 120th edition of Billet Doux. According to the agency's press release, key elements under the "Best of Billet Doux" concept include DM campaigns with postcards, a microsite Billetdoux.chan e-newsletter as well as additional promotions and price campaigns.
Responsible at Kraft Foods Switzerland: Beat Burri. Responsible at Amrein-Pieren, Bern/Genève: Cédric Bussmann (CD, text, consulting), Roman D.C. Amrein (consulting), Christophe Bolz (AD, web design), Corina Burkard (graphics, web design), Andreas Fahrni, Reto Andreoli, Roland Diacon (photo), Graf Miville (programming, database).

The slump in job offers for journalists has so far been much smaller than expected. "We have seen a decline of less than 15 percent since the beginning of the year. We had expected 50 percent," Thomas Hofbauer, Managing Director of the German-language job portal Newsroom.de, was quoted as saying in a statement on Monday. The quality of the jobs currently on offer is also surprising. While internships largely dominated during the media crisis in 2001, the current mix of offers is still balanced.
Compared to the previous year, there were slightly more PR jobs in the first few weeks of 2009. The large media companies are looking for employees somewhat less frequently, with the exception of public broadcasters. On the other hand, smaller media companies are much more active.

Providers of online computer games in Asia want to benefit from the global economic crisis. According to the press release, the companies hope that many people will increasingly turn to online games due to the growing financial pressure and rising unemployment rates. According to the companies, online games are an extremely cost-effective hobby that can be afforded even in difficult economic times. During an economic downturn, people will look for the form of entertainment that offers them the most for the least amount of money, Lan Hoang, CEO of online game publisher Aeria Games & Entertainment, told the International Herald Tribune newspaper. Online games open up huge virtual worlds for those affected, in which they can easily distract themselves from their everyday problems.

The writer, journalist and co-editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frank Schirrmacher, has been awarded the Ludwig Börne Prize, endowed with 20,000 euros.
Frank Schirrmacher is an outstanding journalist, controversial author and leading intellectual in Germany, wrote jury member Necla Kelek in her citation. "Time and again, he succeeds in launching unconventional topics." The award will be presented on June 7 in Frankfurt's Paulskirche. This was announced by the foundation on Monday.