Steffen Riedel is to become the new editor-in-chief of the daily newspapers Zürcher Unterländer and Neues Bülacher Tagblatt, which are owned by NZZ subsidiary Freie Presse Holding (FPH). Riedel succeeds Christine Fivian, who is retiring at the end of August after 15 years as editor-in-chief of the Zürcher Unterländer. Under Christine Fivian's leadership, the editorial content of the Zürcher Unterländer was gradually expanded and improved, the FPH announced. Shortly before the end of her tenure, she and her colleagues Benjamin Geiger from the Zürichsee-Zeitung and Christoph Vollenweider from the Zürcher Oberländer made a significant contribution to the fact that the three Zurich regional newspapers now have a joint editorial team.
Steffen Riedel was previously a reporter at Zürcher Unterländer. His professional career began at the former Radio Gonzen in Buchs SG and led him via business development (now Economiesuisse), Radio Grischa, Tele Züri, Radio Ri, Tele Tell/Tele M1, Swissonline/Cablecom and finally to Zürcher Unterland Medien AG. He has been working for Zürcher Unterländer as a reporter and editor since September 2003. The 37-year-old has already supported the outgoing editor-in-chief in her tasks.

 The Swiss Press Association has now also commented on the new regional radio and television licenses. It criticizes the fact that in various statements on this topic, there have also been isolated voices saying that the monopolies of regional media companies should be counteracted when awarding licenses. The publishers' association, which has a number of members that operate radio and TV stations, believes that this debate is missing the point. The current licensing process is primarily about the quality of the applications. The previous performance of the broadcasters is also of great importance, according to a communiqué issued on Monday. Since the introduction of private broadcasting, publishers have proven that they have a long-term interest in the continued existence of private broadcasters. They have even kept this type of media alive through their journalistic and financial commitment, the publishers are convinced.
In the eyes of the Swiss Press Association, it is unclear what is meant by the fact that, according to the new RTVA, the enrichment of the diversity of opinion and offerings should be taken into account if several applications are of equal value. However, the parliamentary consultation shows that the comparative assessment of the applications "should not be based on the personality of the broadcaster, but on the diversity of programming", the publishers' association continues. This is in line with the current academic view that diversity of opinion does not primarily depend on the number of providers, but on the content of the programs. In regulated broadcasting, efforts would therefore tend towards so-called internal pluralistic measures such as performance mandates or quality assurance requirements.
The licenses to be granted contain specific performance requirements and corresponding control mechanisms. The publishers are convinced that since requirements are imposed for pluralistic reporting and independent programming, criteria of ownership or media integration of the broadcasters would necessarily take a back seat. Consequently, the focus of licensing is not on the diversity of providers, but on the diversity of content. "The discussion about entrepreneurial interdependencies and alleged monopoly situations of individual applicants therefore misses the mark," the publishers' statement says. With its focus on private broadcasters, this discussion also seems "somewhat absurd" in view of the fact that the Swiss broadcasting landscape is clearly dominated by the SRG with its large number of national and regional channels, the publishers' association concludes its statement.

 Babybel spots are a classic and everyone knows Leerdammer cheese. Wunderman is now enjoying these two cheeses: The agency from the Y&R Group now has the two Fromagerie Bel brands in its portfolio. According to the press release, the first works will be on display this spring.

 
After various private broadcasters removed "Videogang" from their program, the private television station 3+ decided to include the youth show in its program after two test broadcasts. The show, which is broadcast once a month, is hosted by Claudia Wambululu, who came third in the last Miss Switzerland competition. 3+ will initially broadcast "Videogang" until summer 2008. According to a press release issued on Tuesday, the private broadcaster believes it is important that young television producers can learn how to produce TV programs in their own broadcasting medium. "Videogang" was a springboard for various media people such as Viola Tami, Andrea Jansen and Stefan Büsser. The program was previously broadcast on Tele Züri, Tele M1, Tele Tell, Tele Ostschweiz, Tele Bärn and, most recently, Tele Top.

 In a statement released Monday regarding the renewal of radio and TV licenses, the Publishers« Association expressed the view that the debate over monopolies misses the point. Roger Schawinski takes a different view; according to his own statements, he wants to break up the monopolies in Aargau and Graubünden. He finds the publishers» statement «enlightening,» as he told Werbewoche. Since most radio stations are owned by the major publishing houses, he argues, they are doing everything in their power to downplay the need for diversity of opinion—a principle that the Radio and Television Act (RTVG) clearly identifies as central. «They know they’re at a serious disadvantage in this area,» Schawinski said. “The argument that internal pluralism is better than genuine competition comes across as desperate, especially when they follow it up with studies they commissioned themselves.”.
Perhaps the most important characteristic of democracies is diversity of opinion. Anyone who dismisses this is venturing into very dangerous territory, Schawinski believes. Diversity of opinion requires certain institutional rules. «And as if further proof were needed, the current debate over the awarding of radio licenses shows how the publishers involved actually handle diversity of opinion in practice when their own interests are at stake,» the media expert continues. Without exception, he says, they have either reported on this topic in a one-sided manner or not at all. Schawinski is convinced that the readers of their publications were deliberately kept in the dark.
«Since some of these are monopoly media outlets, this form of corporate journalism constitutes a particularly serious manipulation of the flow of information driven by purely economic interests,» he added. «Not even in this case, which is particularly easy to analyze, is there even the slightest semblance of journalistic fairness. This shows all too clearly that the publishers» position is nothing but lip service that fails even the simplest test,” Schawinski said in his assessment of the Publishers Association’s statement.

 Since February 1, 2008, the Association of the Swiss Printing Industry (VSD) has been publishing on its website those print shops that can demonstrate their performance in the area of sustainability with measurable results. The eco-rating system can be seen on Vsd.ch, as reported by Mediaforum. Print shops active in the field of sustainability are awarded an umbrella symbol in various categories as a sign of protection if they meet the relevant requirements. The rating also includes the two criteria "climate-neutral printing" and "energy check" (see ). It aims to make it clear to customers which print shops are exemplary when it comes to climate protection and the environment.

 Ringier's Cash media group is expanding its video section. The videos published daily can be viewed free of charge on the new video channel at Cash.ch/video. The clips include interviews with experts from the economic and financial scene, stock market commentaries and a daily news program. The new video channel contains a comprehensive archive, including the programs from Cash-TV and Cash-Talk. The videos are organized by category and can be rated, recommended, downloaded or sorted according to various criteria.

 The Altenrhein agency at the airport has received the mandate from Pronto Reinigung. The St. Gallen-based company is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2008. According to a press release, a lot has happened in these 50 years. In addition to the initial construction and window cleaning contracts, services such as maintenance cleaning, lifting platform rental, pest control and house maintenance have been added. The creative minds from Altenrhein have now been tasked with creating and planning customer and media-effective anniversary activities, while at the same time gearing the brand towards the future.

 The Thurgau-based Internet and multimedia agency Backslash is undergoing a management buyout: four members of the previous management team will take over the company on March 1, 2008 from Huber & Co, which has belonged to Tamedia since 2006. The new owners intend to continue running the agency independently, according to a press release issued on Tuesday. The management team consists of the previous Managing Director Franz Schättin, the Head of Development & Programming, Mischa Sameli, and the two people responsible for Web Design & Multimedia, Markus Walter and Mathias Gamper. They have built up Backslash over the past few years. The new owners will continue to employ all 15 staff and both apprentices at the current location in Frauenfeld. Backslash has been in existence since 1996 and is active in the field of e-government; other strategic business areas are associations, healthcare and SMEs. According to the press release, the takeover by the management team will guarantee comprehensive support for existing customers and enable the continuous further development of services.

Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett shows media professionals and advertisers where to click: The Zurich agency designed the ad for IP Multimedia for the new radio database Radio Media Tool. The radio agency is now offering the online database at Radiomediatool.ch. In it, all current performance and structural data, advertising rates and broadcast areas of all Swiss private radio stations can be accessed with just a few clicks (see ). Responsible at IP Multimedia:
Tanja Kretz (Project Management), Marcel Bosshard, (Overall Responsibility). Responsible at Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett: Diana Rossi (text), Karin Estermann (art direction), Martin Spillmann (creative direction), Andrea Staub (consulting); Claude Stahel (photography); Vladimir Jankijevic, Elefantenstudios (image editing).

 
Booking trademark-protected terms as Adwords on search engines such as Google or Yahoo can be expensive. In Germany, unfair advertising with well-known trademarks can result in warning costs of up to 5,300 euros, and in the second instance even up to around 40,000 euros, as the Munich IT lawyer Max-Lion Keller told Pressetext.de. Last fall, there were two rulings in Germany that interpreted the Adword booking of a trademark by a third-party company as a trademark infringement. And the responsibility was attributed to the person who booked the Adword, not the search engine operator. "As far as I know, no such judgment has been made in Switzerland," Lukas Stuber, Managing Director of Angelink-Yourposition, told Werbewoche. "In this country, search engine marketing is still in its infancy compared to other countries. This is probably why there is still no awareness of the problem. Another reason could be the small scale of Switzerland. In industry associations, people know each other and refrain from such confrontations. But that's just a guess."
Judgments from the USA and Austria show just how different case law can be depending on the country. In the USA, for example, a court in the state of Virginia declared the search engine operator Google to be jointly liable if trademark law is infringed when booking Adwords. In Austria, on the other hand, only the person booking the Adwords was liable. However, the Viennese court ruled that the booking of third-party brand names as Adwords is not punishable; it is only punishable if the booked term also appears in the ad text.
To avoid such disputes, Lukas Stuber recommends that companies in Switzerland protect their trademarks on Google and the like as a preventive measure. "You can have your protected trademark blocked for others on Google free of charge, so that the name cannot be booked as an adword by others. You can also do this if you are not a Google customer."

 Burger King Europe has decided on a new advertising strategy: Only products that meet certain nutritional guidelines are to be advertised to children under the age of twelve. Among other things, the kids' menus are to contain a limited amount of calories from fat and added sugar. This voluntary commitment is part of an EU commitment signed in November 2007 by Burger King and ten other companies, including Coca Cola, Ferrero, Nestlé and Unilever. As Horizont.net reports, Burger King wants to help children to eat and live better by promoting balanced nutrition, an active lifestyle and a healthy diet. If the former buzzword "fat" were still in vogue, one could express the hope that at least the advertising would continue to be fat. All that remains is to give Burger King a quick and hearty pat on the back for its commitment.