On November 24, 132 PR specialists will receive their specialist certificate. According to the SPRG examination board, the success rate is 85.7 percent. A total of 105 female candidates and 27 male candidates - 96 from German-speaking Switzerland and 36 from French-speaking Switzerland - successfully passed the exams. The training institutes SPRI, ISRP, Polycom, Academia Engadina, KV Business School and IWB Lucerne prepared the graduates for the federal certificate.

The PR industry is increasingly pushing into the editorial section of the media. Until now, it was mainly the media that saw this as a problem. But now an opinion leader in the PR industry is also warning against this development. PR guru and founder of the Burson-Marsteller agency Harold Burson finds it alarming that the media are becoming more careless and increasingly adopting PR texts uncritically. The serious work of journalists is essential for our democratic societies and even vital for the survival of the PR industry, the 85-year-old told the NZZ am Sonntag. He calls on journalists to distinguish themselves more strongly from their peers. And he names the difference between PR and journalism - two disciplines that he sees in a dangerous liaison. PR is the art of telling a story from a certain point of view. It is just one side of the truth. Journalism, on the other hand, has the task of distinguishing between what is the real news and what is merely the interpretation of a message.
But it is precisely this distinction that is taking place less and less. One problem with this is that the media responded with a disarmament spiral in corporate communications, founded on structural change and the associated cost pressure. And the ever-increasing time pressure on editorial teams is not making things any better. And there is something else that promotes the penetration of journalism and PR: The striking wage differences between the two industries. For example, there are already seminars on the market that help journalists get PR assignments. As a good way of securing a livelihood, especially for freelance journalists.

At the beginning of October, Roger Köppel took over the management of Weltwoche as publisher again, after he had managed the German daily newspaper from Axel Springer called Welt for two years. It was agreed with Mathias Döpfner, head of the Springer publishing house, that Köppel would continue to be able to draw on journalists from the Spinger publishing house. In return, Köppel will continue to write regularly for Die Welt for five years, reports the SonntagsZeitung. At a podium in Schaffhausen in April of this year, Köppel had already spoken of a "triumvirate" of Welt, Welt am Sonntag and Weltwoche, the SonntagsZeitung continued. How close a possible collaboration could be, however, is currently still the subject of speculation. Creativity offensive with ongoing savings round The reason for the deal is the redimensioning of staff in Zurich. Although Köppel has announced a creativity offensive on the reader and advertising market, efficiency improvement programs are apparently also intended to increase profits while maintaining the same earnings situation. According to internal information, the deficit of the traditional title currently amounts to two million francs. Since the announcement to take over the paper, eleven employees have left or will leave the company, writes SonntagsZeitung. However, Köppel has only hired four new employees so far.

FDP President Fulvio Pelli has taken an aggressive stance against the SF political program «Arena.» Speaking to fellow FDP members on Saturday, Pelli accused the program’s producers of allowing themselves to be used by Christoph Blocher, according to the SonntagsZeitung. The background: When the program focused on Justice Minister Blocher’s trip to Turkey, Pelli refused to participate. He described the editorial decision as a disgrace and servile pandering—arguing that television, like all other media, had merely played along with Blocher’s ploy for attention, which he allegedly used to divert attention from important issues. Editorial Director Urs Leuthard immediately rejected the criticism. SRG Secretary General Daniel Eckmann also denies any suggestion of manipulation. However, the FDP president’s call to boycott «Arena» in the future—and even to abolish it—also drew criticism from within his own ranks. Filippo Leutenegger, for example, argued that a liberal party cannot afford to dictate to television which topics it should cover. For his part, Pelli likely achieved a milestone with his verbal attack: drawing media attention to the discussion of Blocher’s media strategy.

The magazine for management knowledge in practice, published by Solution Providers, aims to meet the demands of the international business community not only in terms of content, but also visually.  
The corporate communication specialists at the Heads agency therefore developed a new layout that better conveys the journalistic claim of the title. The magazine will then look pretty OK on the desk of the VRP, CEO, CIO and CFO alongside HBR, FAZ, WSJ and WiWo.

On October 4, Adlink proclaimed the day of online advertising. But how is this advertising measure, which has long struggled to really establish itself, faring?  
The first online advertisement, an AT&T banner, sparked controversy in 1994: The Internet was a commercial-free space and some wanted it to stay that way. Despite the initial defensive reaction and all the prophecies of doom, a real boom set in over the following years.
 
Figures collected in the USA show that: in 1996, online advertising revenue amounted to 267 million US dollars, just two years later it stood at 1.9 billion, in 1999 it was 4.6 billion. When the bubble burst in 2000, online advertising revenue was 8 billion dollars. Things went downhill until mid-2002, but then the industry generated high growth rates again and in 2004 revenues reached a new high: 9.6 billion. For the next few years, constantly increasing growth rates in the range of five to eight percent are predicted worldwide.
 
In addition to economic and industry-specific factors, the rapid spread of broadband Internet helped online advertising achieve a breakthrough. Faster transmission enabled the multimedia design of content and advertising. As a result, online advertising finally found its place in the advertising mix. What academics and advertising experts have long debated in theory as cross-media has become practice: different media are synergistically linked together. As studies by online marketer IP Newmedia show, cross-media communication concepts improve advertising recall and are a potent means of improving brand image.
 
However, the impressive absolute figures and growth rates should not hide the fact that online advertising only accounts for just one percent of total advertising sales. However, it is also true that since the foundations for integration into the overall advertising mix have been established, this share has been growing rapidly.

The fact that Google took over YouTube this week is no reason for the US media group Time Warner to break off copyright negotiations with the video portal.  
As Time Warner boss Dick Parsons emphasized to the British Guardian, negotiations with YouTube will now continue at Google level. Google bought the cult site YouTube for 1.65 billion dollars at the beginning of the week. The search engine giant has thus secured access to the new market for video advertising, writes SDA.
 
However, industry experts also fear that Google's takeover could lead to a flood of copyright lawsuits, as YouTube users often post protected content such as Hollywood films online without permission. Future plaintiffs could be eyeing the bulging coffers of the new YouTube owner. However, Parsons denies that the negotiations with YouTube are connected to its takeover by Google. TimeWarner would have had to clarify the copyright issues with YouTube otherwise as well. TimeWarner had already agreed to cooperate with Google on online videos last year.

The implementing provisions for the new Radio and Television Act are still being fine-tuned. According to research by NZZ Online, the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) wants to restrict the SRG in the area of advertising but give private broadcasters more leeway.  
According to NZZ Online, Bakom will soon be publishing an explosive paper. It is a draft ordinance in which the authority outlines how it wants to distribute fee money to private local television stations and how large their license areas are. As contributions are being increased from 5 million to 28 million under the new Radio and Television Act, the media industry can literally hear the grass growing. Industry experts criticize the draft ordinance on the law as being too rigid for the dynamically developing media landscape.
 
The SRG is concerned that its freedom to advertise would be restricted in order to curb the commercialization of programme content and prevent unwanted competition from private broadcasters. The new law would prohibit SRG from the following: advertising interruptions in cinema and television films, sales programs, product placement, advertising messages on split screens and advertising on Internet sites. This would deprive SRG of millions in advertising revenue. Due to the extended fee splitting and additional requirements in favor of the visually impaired, SRG now fears that this could lead to major budget problems.
 
At present, 120 comments from industry and interest groups are being evaluated by OFCOM. A new version of the ordinance, which takes into account the more weighty objections, will be submitted to the Federal Council for assessment. A decision is expected at the beginning of next year.

From next year, the association of Swiss private radio stations Swiss Radio Pool will be strengthened by two new members: Radio BE1 is the largest private station in the Bern region, while Radio Basel 1 is the number two in the Basel/North-Eastern Switzerland region.  
The largest radio pool in Switzerland is thus gaining members number 14 and 15. The total reach of the pool is already over two million listeners. With the expansion, the existing advertising combination will be further expanded and the presence of the private radio stations will be even more market-oriented and needs-based, as stated in the Swiss Radio Pool press release.
 
The Swiss Radio Pool already provides advertising customers with differentiated coverage in the most important urban agglomerations in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. In future, the industry association will continue to try to expand the offering in line with market requirements. For example, it is currently examining whether further stations could be offered as additional variants. The aim is to create a comprehensive industry solution.

On Saturday, Benissimo returns to Swiss screens after its summer break. Many will be pleased: A survey on the SRG platform Mitreden.ch has shown that the entertainment show with Beni Thurnheer remains by far the most popular Swiss Saturday show.  
When the 72nd Benissimo Million is drawn on Saturday, big names will once again be among them. From the international show world, Spanish lad Julio Iglesias and Italo rocker Zucchero will be among the participants. The Swiss entertainment scene will be represented by the Bernese quintet Plüsch and the comedy duo Ursus & Nadeschkin. In addition, comedians Peter Shub and Erich Vock will be on the Benissimo stage together for the first time.
 
On Mitreden.ch, television recently asked SRG members which shows on Saturday evening programming should continue to be broadcast. The survey revealed that feature films and comedies are the Swiss' favorite TV fare. In third and fourth place come Wetten Dass and Benissimo, with the gap between the two shows being minimal. The VIParade and the Mr. Schweiz election received the least approval.

Swiss Roots was the name of Switzerland's biggest image-building advertising campaign in America to date. In an interview with SDA, the outgoing Consul General in New York and head of the campaign, Ambassador Raymond Loretan, draws a positive balance.  
From March to September this year, over 150,000 people in the USA learned about Switzerland at more than 130 events. Consul General Loretan considers the exhibition of the Federal Charter in Philadelphia to be the most successful. In any case, Loretan believes that the marketing of Switzerland in the USA is usually met with a receptive ear. Too often it is still confused with Sweden, but among those who know Switzerland, it enjoys an excellent reputation. It is important to build on this. The task involves a balancing act between the proven qualities of the Swiss brand - quality, reliability, punctuality - and the new Swiss self-confidence as a high-tech country of science and business with a flourishing art scene.
 
In the SDA interview, Loretan emphasized that image-building measures must always be sustainable. In recent years, a considerable network has grown up that can now continue to be used as a marketing tool - such as the Swissroots.org portal. The advertising activities were not only financed by the state, but above all by the American private sector. In this way, Swiss Roots achieved high visibility with a small budget.

The 2006 Prix Media of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) was awarded on Thursday. This year the Academy honored two works. Olivier Dessibourg and Anton Vos received the main prize for their series of articles "Six mystères de la physique dans la moiteur de l'été", in which they explored unresolved questions of physics on the occasion of the International Year of Physics. The texts were published last summer in Le Temps.
The recognition prize went to Sandra Zrinski, who was honored for her eight portraits of researchers that appeared in the Zürcher Unterländer from September to December of last year.