Journalists do not only live dangerously in war zones: According to his own account, a British photographer was recently beaten up by the wife of Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe in Hong Kong. A bodyguard held photographer Richard Jones while Mrs. Mugabe punched him several times in the face.
Jones wanted to take pictures of Grace Mugabe outside a Hong Kong luxury hotel on Thursday, he reported Sunday. When the 43-year-old wife of Zimbabwe's dictator caught sight of him, she went completely berserk, he said. "She was furious," said Jones, who had to be treated by a doctor after the assault. The quick-witted first lady inflicted several cuts and bruises on him, he said. The many diamond rings on her fingers were particularly painful, he said.
A correspondent for the British newspaper "Sunday Times," Michael Sheridan, confirmed the incident. Three or four bodyguards had even tried to pursue Jones after he had managed to break away. But a security guard prevented them from doing so, he said. The journalists were working on an article about the Mugabes' luxurious lifestyle, which contrasts with the poverty of the Zimbabwean people. Nearly half of Zimbabwe's people rely on food aid.
(Image: Keystone)

Cablecom has significantly scaled back its announced job cuts. As the cable network operator announced on Monday, only 53 employees will lose their jobs for the time being instead of up to 150.
However, as the communications union and Cablecom announced on Monday following the conclusion of a redundancy plan, around 50 further employees could lose their jobs in the course of the year as a result of the implementation measures.
In December, Cablecom announced its intention to streamline the organization and staff departments in order to increase efficiency and to make up to 150 redundancies for operational reasons. As part of the consultation process, in which the Communications union assisted the employee representatives, over 50 proposals for significantly greater efficiency were submitted.
Cablecom and the communications union have concluded a social plan for the employees affected by redundancies. The aim is to avoid redundancies for operational reasons as far as possible and to make redundancy measures socially acceptable. Employees from the age of 57 benefit from an employment guarantee or early retirement, with Cablecom bearing all costs incurred.
People who have been made redundant are supported in their professional reintegration for up to 12 months. They benefit from individual advice and training measures. Relocation compensation will also be provided. The social plan runs until the end of 2010 and applies to all those who have worked for Cablecom for at least six months.

The Zurich agency Four is bringing variety to the Zurich streetcars for Laax. Full-size snowboard floor stickers are intended to bring that special "boarder feeling" to the lowlands. This will give streetcar passengers the opportunity to dream of snowboarding during their journey and forget about everyday life.
The advertising campaign starts just in time for the Burton European Open in Laax, the biggest snowboarding event in Europe. The floor stickers feature the "Feelgood" snowboard from Burton. The stickers will be on all Cobra Trams for the next three weeks.

Responsible at Weisse Arena Group: Britta Kaula (Marketing and Communications Manager). Responsible at Four: Björn Brinkmann, Philipp Sträuli (CD), Raphael Schoen (graphics), Sandra Genge, Daniel Gerber (consulting).
Realization by: Propaganda Zurich, Roberto Ferrari (Marketing and Sales) and VBZ, Phillip Saladin (Head of Strategic Marketing). Production by: Rutschi, Edith Lehmann.

German-speaking authors and publishers want to prevent the loss of book rights to the internet search engine Google. So far, Google has scanned around seven million books from US libraries, including German-language books.
"We want to ensure that no German author or publisher loses rights," announced Robert Staats, Managing Director of Verwertungsgesellschaft Wort, in Berlin on Monday. In addition to VG Wort, the German Publishers and Booksellers Association and the Swiss Booksellers and Publishers Association (SBVV) also want to help German-language authors and publishers to obtain their rights.
Last fall, the American Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers settled their two-year copyright dispute with Google with a payment of 125 million dollars. This paved the way for comprehensive online searches, including in protected books and texts. In return, Google will give authors and publishers a share of the advertising revenue generated from book searches. At the time, the search engine giant called on publishers and authors from Germany to register their rights in the USA.

The Zurich-based communications and PR agency Open Up has acquired a major new client in BVZ Holding from Valais. The first task now is to design the annual report and the website.
BVZ Holding, based in Brig, is active in the cantons of Valais, Uri and Graubünden. With around 600 employees, the Group provides public transportation and tourism services. BVZ Holding unites seven subsidiaries under its roof, including the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, the Gornergrat Bahn and the Glacier Express.
Open Up's first task for the new client is to redesign the content of the annual report. At the same time, it is to be redesigned. Open Up is responsible for both the concept and the editing. The report will be designed by the Inform agency.
Secondly, the website will be redesigned. As part of the introduction of an electronic sales channel, it is to be completely renewed and greatly expanded in terms of content and design. Open Up developed the structure and created all the content. The technical aspects are being handled by Aseantic from Biel.
The communications and PR agency Open Up was founded in Zurich in 2001 by Urs Thaler and Kilian Borter and today has twelve employees. The focus is on strategic communications consulting, media relations, corporate publishing and internal communications.

Thomas Gierl took over overall responsibility for marketing at Medienhaus Schwabe at the beginning of the year. The 40-year-old Gierl has been Head of Marketing and Communications at the subsidiary EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG since 2006 and is a member of the EMH Executive Board. In addition to his previous functions, he has now also been appointed to the management board of Schwabe.
Founded in 1488, the Schwabe publishing house consists of the printing and IT divisions, the Swiss Medical Publishers EMH, which Schwabe manages jointly with the Swiss Medical Association FMH, and Schwabe Verlag. Anne Rose Fischer continues to be responsible for marketing at Schwabe Verlag.
In addition, the company operates a bookshop in Basel, the Narrenschiff, a book and magazine delivery service with a forwarding agent, as well as its own advertising acquisition.

Ticketcorner will be launching a new magazine in February. The leisure magazine More will be published from February 2. With a total circulation of 220,000 copies, it will provide news, interviews and service topics relating to leisure activities and events from various sectors.
As Ticketcorner announced on Monday, the 68-page magazine will be published with a print run of 200,000 copies in German and 20,000 copies in French. It is planned to produce ten issues per year. 100,000 copies of the total print run will be enclosed with Schweizer Illustrierte. 80,000 copies will be available at advance booking offices and in Zurich's Hallenstadion.
The remaining copies will be sent home to members of the Ticketcorner Member Club. Ticketcorner is also taking over the Member Club members of the Swiss concert promoter Good News. In future, they will receive More instead of the Good News Special from 20 Minuten Week, which ceased publication at the end of 2008.
The most important service element is a clear event guide, which replaces the Ticketnews event brochure previously published by Ticketcorner. In addition to rock, pop, jazz, entertainment, but also sports events and clubbing, new CDs, DVDs, movies and books will also be discussed.
Christoph Soltmannowski, PR Manager at Ticketcorner, will be Editor-in-Chief. The van Essel agency, headed by Zeno van Essel, is responsible for production and layout.

New tool: With the Swiss Media Tool, the Goldbach Media Group has launched a comprehensive online database. It contains important information on electronic advertising media, including performance and usage data as well as detailed tariffs. In addition, numerous studies on TV, radio and online are now available for download.
The Goldbach Swiss Media Tool has been providing media professionals with an overview of the entire electronic media landscape since 2006. In addition to the existing modules, a research database containing numerous studies and information from the TV, radio and online sectors can now be accessed. A search function will enable quick access to research findings and case studies from Europe and the USA. This expansion means that, for the first time in Switzerland, relevant data and study results for TV, radio and online media are now available on a single public website, writes Goldbach Media in a press release on Monday.
An advertising media showroom with the most common standard and special forms of advertising media has also been set up for the online area. There is also a glossary with all common terms from online, mobile and in-game marketing, which will soon be supplemented by the corresponding TV, radio and ad screen terms.

New clients, new services: The young PR agency Press'n'Relations has several new clients to announce at the beginning of the year. The Swiss branch of the German PR agency Press'n'Relations, which was founded in September 2007, was able to acquire the motorcycle manufacturer Ducato, the Swiss hi-tech coating company Ion Bond, the software manufacturer Micro Strategy and the promotion agency Promotion-Tools as new clients in addition to its existing mandates.
The office, managed by Andrej Voina, is also a PR partner of the Suisse Emex trade fair and supports the Pioneers Club PCU. In addition to traditional media work, Press'n'Relations has also been offering customized Web 2.0 concepts and advice for activities on portals such as Facebook, YouTube and WordPress since 2008.
Press'n'Relations also runs the website Greenswitzerland.ch - a platform for Swiss technology, innovation and research in the environmental and sustainability sector - and is responsible for the election of Mister Facebook Switzerland, which will be held for the first time in March this year.
Press'n'Relations was founded in 2001 by Uwe Pagel. The branch office in Zurich was established in September 2007. Andrej Voina, branch manager of the Zurich office, has been working as a journalist, event organizer and PR, communications and trend consultant since 1990. Press'n'Relations employs a total of 15 people at its four locations in Zurich, Ulm, Munich and Vienna.

The SRG Audience Council gives the two television programs "Puls" and "Sportpanorama" as well as the radio station DRS 4 News good marks. However, it also makes suggestions for improvement for all three.
In a statement on Monday, the Public Council described the health magazine "Puls" on SF 1 as comprehensible, informative and entertaining. It is a credible source of advice. The topics are carefully researched and presenter Nicole Westenfelder performs her task with aplomb. Some Council members suggested that representatives of other medical and paramedical professions should also be invited as discussion partners instead of mainly doctors. Prevention could also be given a higher priority and more critical questions asked in the interviews.
According to the Audience Council, the "Sportpanorama" on SF 2 is not only informative, up-to-date and professionally produced, but also entertaining. The makers have succeeded in striking a balance between topicality and background. The Council particularly emphasizes the competent performance of the presenters, but regrets that there is no woman in the team. Some members of the Audience Council were annoyed by the fact that reports on football and ice hockey matches were so dominant. Too many sports are only covered when a major event is on the agenda.
Finally, the still young radio station DRS 4 News inspires many audience members. In its first year of broadcasting, it has become the preferred station for some and an indispensable news source for others. It has been able to sharpen its profile and today offers fast, up-to-date and reliable information. Another strength is the mix of topicality and background reports.
The audience council paid special tribute to the moderation. It was not only competent, but also understandable, fresh, natural, flexible and factual. The reporting from French and Italian-speaking Switzerland is a real pioneering achievement. The Council sees potential for improvement in strengthening the reporting from French-speaking Switzerland.

The concept of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung will be reviewed "in every respect" and the NZZ will be renewed by the fall, announced Albert P. Stäheli in an interview with the Sonntag newspaper. Quality and content will be expanded in a targeted manner, and the layout in particular will be reviewed and adapted to new content requirements, said the NZZ Group CEO. "It should make access and navigation easier. Younger readers are used to charts and illustrations. We have to take that into account."
Nevertheless, he clearly does not want to turn the NZZ into a view for the educated. The newspaper will always remain somewhat elitist and pick up its readers with its own elegance, Stäheli continues. "I would have serious reservations if the NZZ were to aim for more breadth." The CEO does not rule out the possibility of a single-bundle newspaper. "Anything is possible, from six newspaper bundles to a single-bundle newspaper."
NZZ "solidly financed"
At the end of December, Stäheli announced the reduction of 24 jobs in the NZZ Group. However, the Group will not be in the red in 2008, as might have been expected due to the cost-cutting measures and the ten percent drop in advertising revenues in 2008. "The NZZ is solidly financed and could weather even more severe storms," said Stäheli. He also refuted the suggestion to Sonntag that the cost-cutting measures would thin out the network of correspondents excessively: "We are only keeping Zagreb ... the NZZ still has more foreign correspondents than any other newspaper in the world."
Stäheli also commented on the future of the various titles that belong to the NZZ Group, including the St. Galler Tagblatt, the Neue Luzerner Zeitung and the Zürcher Landzeitungen. Following the already completed adjustment of the management structure, the next step will be to merge the service areas, which currently exist separately at each location. "We have strong companies with these newspapers. But as the NZZ Group, we have not yet exploited the synergies."
It is conceivable, for example, that the three Zurich regional newspapers, which have a joint jacket section, could in future obtain sections from the St. Galler Tagblatt or the Neue Luzerner Zeitung. "As a premium product, the NZZ naturally enjoys a largely unique position in this area," says Stäheli
Cooperation with Publicitas is being reconsidered
Regarding the cooperation with the marketer Publicitas, Stäheli said that it would be more appealing if such a strong brand as the NZZ did not contact customers via Publicitas but directly. "Together with Publicitas, we will address the question of how its future orientation matches our goals in the advertising market." He could well imagine P as a central, external partner for the processing, administration and collection of the advertising business. "However, I consider marketing to be the core business of the publishers."

Advertising expenditure in the Swiss daily press continued to fall in December 2008. The index compiled by Publicitas fell by 1.5 points from 91.4 to a total of 89.9 points in December. This means that advertising expenditure fell more sharply than in November, when a drop of 1.1 points was recorded. There are no signs of an upward trend in the coming months.
The annual average decline compared to the previous year was 8.4 points. According to Publicitas, the poor economic situation is reflected in all advertising categories. The sharpest decline was in real estate advertising. The corresponding sub-index fell by 0.5 points to 69.0 points in December. For the year as a whole, the decline amounted to 22.9 percent. By contrast, job advertisements recorded the biggest drop in November.
However, the worsening situation on the labor market is in turn leading to fewer job advertisements being placed. The job advertisements sub-index fell from 191.4 to 186.5 points in December. For 2008 as a whole, this represents a drop of 4.9 percent. Commercial advertising also continued to decline, although some sectors such as banks made larger investments.