The new editorial director of the journalistic correspondent service for Swiss private radio stations in the Federal Palace (Bundeshaus-Radio) is Rolf Blaser. On November 1, 2008, he will take over from Andreas Käsermann, who will become media officer for the Swiss Social Democratic Party in the fall. The 40-year-old Bernese journalist has several years of radio experience, as was reported in a press release on Wednesday. He began his radio career in 1999 at Radio Förderband. He later moved to Radio Extra Bern. He held management positions at both stations.
Bundeshaus-Radio supplies most German-language local and regional radio stations. The operation of the sound agency will be taken over by Radio Zürisee AG from next fall.

 In Germany, consumers are to be better protected against unwanted advertising calls and contracts concluded on the telephone. The government passed a corresponding bill on Wednesday, as reported by SDA. According to the bill, advertising calls will only be permitted if the person called has given their express prior consent. Violations can be punished with a fine of up to 50,000 euros and telephone applicants will no longer be allowed to suppress their telephone number, otherwise they could face a fine of 10,000 euros. Cancellation rights for contracts concluded on the Internet have also been improved. In future, there will also be a right of withdrawal for contracts concluded by telephone for the delivery of newspapers, magazines and periodicals as well as for betting and lottery services.
The government also wants to ensure greater price transparency for 0180 numbers in mobile communications. Many companies and public authorities use this type of chargeable number for customer contacts. Until now, fixed prices have only applied to calls from fixed networks. The prices for calls from mobile networks, on the other hand, are often high and difficult for consumers to recognize. In future, prices for calls from cell phones will also have to be indicated.
It is uncertain whether the law will be implemented in this version. The measures do not go far enough for the German federal states. The Bundestag and Bundesrat are expected to discuss the amendment in the fall.

 The Maxomedia agency has created a new word for the Raclette Suisse association that gets to the heart of the cheese dish: Advertisements and banners called on the Swiss to submit their word creations on the Raclette Suisse website. The word "raclettieren" was selected from around 6,000 suggestions. According to a press release issued by the agency, the new word creation is to be established in the Swiss population's vocabulary by means of a cross-media communication campaign. The first measure is a national poster campaign, which can currently be seen in the major Swiss cities.
The campaign also included the realization of the new Raclettieren.ch website. The Raclette-suisse association website was redesigned at the same time. September will also see the launch of the ATL campaign, which includes the use of posters, advertisements and online advertising media.

 The SRG company Swissinfo.ch is gearing up for the Olympic Games, which begin on August 8 in Beijing. A dossier is available in nine languages, which is described as a kind of "multimedia quality supplement to the general offer". The Chinese editors of Swissinfo want to use the opportunity to bring Switzerland closer to the Olympic-enthusiastic Chinese in their mother tongue. It portrays the greatest medal hopes among the 82 Swiss athletes traveling to China, including Roger Federer, Viktor Röthlin and Flavia Rigamonti. In addition to the sporting events, the swissinfo dossier also focuses on Sino-Swiss relations and highlights common aspects.

 Zurich is currently adorned with posters that aim to make the people of Zurich think with questions. "What is your favorite excuse for not having to change anything?", for example, or "Do you love your partner the way they are, or the way they could be?". Similar stickers have already been put up in the city on the Limmat. They are signed by a so-called "campaign for a smart Zurich". According to the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten, the person behind it is an anonymous private individual who is paying the poster costs himself "as a gift to my home town". He wants to get the people of Zurich to think about the issues and become smarter.

 How are we supposed to fill our media today, journalists ask themselves in the summertime. This year, however, there were all sorts of exciting things to report: Nef, Libya and UBS filled the pages and airtime. And there are also professional colleagues who have known for a long time what they want to write about. They just don't have the necessary interview staff. No problem, because the Ron Orp newsletter kindly has a "Journalist seeks..." section on its website. This is where journalists track down people who can talk first-hand about an interesting topic. At the same time, consumers can get a taste of what will soon be featured in the media of their choice: Fritz und Fränzi magazine is looking for a family with a gifted child, Beobachter is looking for a charismatic street musician and Wir Eltern would like to attend a live birth. Erotic topics are particularly popular at the moment: Someone wants to hear about sexual fantasies for a book project, a screenwriter is looking for someone who has had a threesome including their own partner, and even the current fashion topic of "injected G-spot" is to be explored in more depth - with a lady who is directly affected, so to speak. Perhaps it's the summer weather that has journalists' heads spinning with hot topic ideas. Or perhaps they are once again hoping for the sales-promoting power of sex.

 The St. Gallen private radio station FM 1 is launching its second program FM 1 Melody in test mode on Thursday. The Schlager-Open-Air Flumserberg will be broadcast live on the Internet and partly via cable.FM 1 Melody will definitely go on air from October, as Radio FM 1 announced on Wednesday. The program, which can only be heard via cable and the Internet, includes oldies, pop songs, folk music and special programs from the former Rheintaler Radio Ri, which no longer have a place in FM 1's concept.
The FM 1 station was created from the merger of Radio aktuell (St. Gallen) and Radio Ri (Buchs SG) and has been on air since the beginning of May 2008 (see
). 
 

 The western Swiss publishing house Edipresse has completed the sale of its stake in the Portuguese company Edimpresa. The 50 percent stake will be taken over by the joint venture partner Impresa, as Edipresse announced on Wednesday. The deal was announced in mid-May (see ). However, the sale was still subject to the approval of the Portuguese competition authorities, which has now been granted.

 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has acknowledged an agreement with China to censor Internet sites during the upcoming Summer Games. This was announced by IOC press chief Kevan Gosper according to SDA. Gosper had previously assured that the 21,500 media people accredited for the Olympic Games in Beijing would have free access to the Internet. He had now learned that IOC representatives had negotiated with the Chinese to block some critical sites because they had no connection to the Games. He regretted that there did not seem to be unhindered access to the internet after all.
Attempts to click on the Amnesty International website from the Games press center were in vain on Wednesday. The organization had expressed criticism of the human rights situation in China the day before. The sites of the Falun Gong meditation movement, which is banned in China, could not be accessed either.

Eric Fricke joined Publicis Dialog, formerly Fisch.Meier.Direkt, as Group Head Art on July 1. As the person responsible for art direction, he will bring creative reinforcement to the dialog agency. Fricke previously worked as Senior Art Director at Saatchi & Saatchi X, before that at Springer & Jacoby and for six years at Ogilvy One. His client portfolio included international clients such as Deutsche Bank, Visa Europe, IBM, Procter & Gamble, Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Postbank, Mercedes-Benz, RTL and Frankfurt Airport.
The 41-year-old has won all major dialog awards as well as prizes and awards in Cannes (bronze), at ADC Germany, SDV, LIAA and DDP, according to a press release. With his expertise in dialogue marketing and his experience in literature and corporate design, Fricke will contribute to the realization of creative ideas with a lasting impact.

Misses are always in demand in Switzerland - even "ex-Miss" seems to be a real profession. However, one job has slipped through the local Misses' fingers: The lucky fairy at the 1st Swiss Media Ball is Miss France. This is no coincidence, as France is the guest country at the event, which takes place on the last weekend in October at the newly opened Dolder Grand. With the black-haired beauty named Valérie Bègue, the organizers of the media ball write in a communiqué, which includes a high-resolution picture of the young lady, that they want to set "a first glamorous highlight". Described as "beautiful and intelligent", the 22-year-old will choose the lucky winners of the big raffle. The proceeds will go to the international aid organization Reporters sans frontières and the Zurich Journalism Prize. So at least the local scribblers will benefit from the glamorous import from the neighboring country.

 In the first half of 2008, marketer Goldbach Media Group reported an 11.1 percent increase in net sales to CHF 116.0 million and a 28.2 percent increase in operating profit to CHF 5.5 million. Net profit, on the other hand, fell from 14.3 million francs to 5.5 million francs. This is due to the absence of the extraordinary income from the sale of Radio Energy. In the previous semester, this had brought in CHF 11 million. Goldbach saw particularly strong growth in interactive and mobile media, where sales rose by 37.5 percent to CHF 31.7 million. The marketer now generates over 27 percent of its net sales in the online segment, as it announced on Tuesday. In the offline segment, the sale of advertising for private radio and TV and advertising at selected points of sale (Adscreen), Goldbach Media achieved a 3.5 percent increase in sales and revenues of CHF 84.7 million, although the industry's expectations for advertising volumes due to the European Football Championships in June were far from being fulfilled.
Despite the difficult market environment, Goldbach Media is sticking to its forecasts. For 2008 as a whole, the company expects double-digit sales growth and an increase in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of over 10 percent. Further expansion in Eastern Europe is also planned.