In future, the food industry will no longer be allowed to advertise its products in the European Union with false health claims, the European Parliament decided in Strasbourg on Tuesday, according to a statement from the SDA. The decision marks the end of a long-running dispute between consumer advocates and the advertising industry in the EU. Health-related advertising claims on packaging such as "chocolate bars with calcium are good for your bones" should now only be permitted if they are scientifically proven. Brand names where the name is already advertising, such as "Slimfast" (lose weight quickly), may be banned after a transitional period of 15 years. The European Parliament is even stricter when it comes to so-called risk-related claims such as "reduces the risk of heart attack". These must now undergo an approval procedure.
The new marketing rules also apply to foods with a high sugar, fat or salt content, such as potato potato chips, fruit quark, cornflakes or tomato sauces. A limit value may be exceeded, but this must be clearly indicated. If "low in sugar" is written on the packaging, it must also be mentioned if the fat content is particularly high.

The media union Comedia is planning symbolic actions around Tamedia's Annual General Meeting on May 18. As a shareholder, the union intends to propose a dividend waiver at the AGM. The CHF 25 million saved in this way will be used to increase the salaries of all Tamedia employees by 5 percent retroactively as of January 1, 2006. The remaining 15 million Swiss francs are to be allocated to a reserve fund which will be used to preserve jobs in the future. In addition, shareholders will have the opportunity to hit the pay jackpot on Thursday from 1 p.m.: those who hit the low wages and low job figures will see their management salaries and dividends skyrocket.

Switzerland has an evening newspaper again, writes the news agency SDA. On Monday at 4 pm, the first edition of the Ringier free newspaper was delivered to over 400 boxes and was diligently distributed by 150 colporteurs. The first issue attracted a great deal of attention from the advertising industry, with around a third of the 32 pages in tabloid format being advertising (7 full-page and 5 half-page ads). The lead story of the first issue is football: "Nati without Hakan! Murat rages" is the headline. The structure of the paper is also clearly visible on the front page, as the four sections have been given four different colors. Blue for news, green for sport, yellow for knowledge and red for the nightlife section. On page 2, "heute" features people news, powered by Schweizer Illustrierte. This is followed by Swiss news on page 3 and foreign news on page 4 with half a page. Business news has been given half a page on page 7 and local news from Zurich half a page on page 9. Pages 10 and 11 show large-format pictures of the day, before the section and color change on page 12: green for the 2-page sports section.
On page 16, which is already highlighted in yellow like the knowledge section, the heute editorial team introduces itself. "heute" is the fastest newspaper in Switzerland, with the latest news of the day reaching readers "fresh off the press in the afternoon". The active involvement of readers is important for "heute", which is why there are many surveys, competitions and prize draws. Reference is made to the new website.
The newspaper makers want to appeal to a young and urban target audience with the new free newspaper. An important section is therefore the nightlife section with tips on movies, TV, concerts and parties. But the section also includes book tips, puzzles, games, comics and the weather forecast. The double page Community introduces singles and the competition in which "heute" is looking for a mascot. It is to be hoped that the success of "heute" does not depend on the mascot. Evening newspapers have not yet been crowned with success in Switzerland, writes the SDA. There has been no evening newspaper in German-speaking Switzerland since 1977.
Kathrin Fischer

Spiegel-Verlag is launching a book edition with fiction and non-fiction titles on August 14. The forty best novels and non-fiction books have been selected from four decades of the Spiegel bestseller list. The Spiegel edition has high-quality features: artistically designed dust jacket, colored endpapers, ribbon marker, high paper quality. The distribution partner is Deutsche Taschenbuch Verlag in Munich. The individual price is 9.90 euros, the subscription price for all volumes of the
Spiegel-Edition is 299,- Euro, for every 20 fiction books or
20 non-fiction books 159 euros, the publisher announced on Monday.

On Monday, May 15, the publication day of the new free evening newspaper "heute", 20 Minuten countered with an MMS service. This service sends "the most important news from today to your cell phone at 4 p.m. on all seven days of the week - including pictures", writes 20 Minuten in its Monday edition. This MMS newspaper is absolutely free. With this new service, you don't have to wait for the next 20 Minuten edition in the afternoon to be supplied with news. Ringier's new free evening newspaper "heute" will also be available in the newspaper boxes at 4 p.m., but only on weekdays.

The singer of the rock band U2 temporarily took over as editor-in-chief of the London daily newspaper "The Independent" on Monday. According to the news agency SDA, a special edition of the paper will be published on Tuesday under the logo of the "Red" initiative, which raises money for the fight against Aids in Africa. The content of Tuesday's edition will focus on this topic. Columnists include US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The Independent plans to donate half of the proceeds from the special edition to Red. After corporations such as American Express, the newspaper is the first media company to participate in the project.

For the first time, the monthly Net-Audit of the AG für Werbemittelforschung (Wemf) has included a weblog in the list of advertising-relevant websites monitored. For the first time, data is available for "bleublog.ch". Other new participants are Blick Online and RFJ, RJB and RTN, which form the "Radios FM de l'Arc jurassien" network. In total, the Net-Audit now compiles the monthly figures for 120 websites (115 advertising-relevant sites). What is striking about the April figures is the sometimes drastic decline in usage figures (page impressions and visits) for the online offshoots of the newspaper titles. The current figures are freely accessible via the link below.

The Zurich-based private broadcaster is strengthening its editorial team. Sabine Matz and Mike Sgier will join the team. Both live in Zurich, but are currently still "in exile" for professional reasons. Sgier, 33, has been working as editor and news director at Radio Argovia for nine years. Sabine Matz is 27 years old and has been employed as an editor at Radio Top for just under two years. Previously, she gained journalistic experience at U1, at the "Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich" and at the "Zürich Express". As noted on the press association's website, the two will start work at Energy Zürich soon.

On May 10, the Swiss Advertising Board of Examiners approved the results of the Federal Professional Examination in Marketing Communication Planning (PMK). 108 out of a total of 156 candidates passed the federal professional examination in marketing communication planning this year, Schweizer Werbung announced on Monday. This means that 69 percent of participants were successful, compared to 60 percent in the previous year. The best mark was achieved by Anina Claudia Burkhalter from Häutligen (BE) with an average grade of 5.1. The professional examination certifies that the graduates have a broad and practice-oriented specialist knowledge in the main subjects of communication planning, media and production. The federal diplomas will be awarded on June 23 in Bern.

The Société romande de relations publiques (SRRP) appointed Mathieu Janin as its new President at the General Assembly on May 9. He replaces Rika Brademann. Janin is press spokesman and communications manager for French-speaking Switzerland at TDC Swizterland. For him, PR is an active domain that is constantly changing, according to a press release. Janin has presented the SRRP with an action plan for the coming years, which includes the following four points: To promote training in the PR industry, to intensify the relationship with the media, to evaluate PR and to strengthen networks.

The editor of the Berner Zeitung (BZ), Max Trossmann (60), is leaving the title. He is taking early retirement to pursue his hobby of acting, the newspaper announced at the weekend. Trossmann has been responsible for production and design since December 1997 and has played a key role in shaping the paper as a member of the editorial board over the past few years. "As the editorial team has been reorganized, the function as such no longer exists," said Editor-in-Chief Michael Hug when asked by Werbewoche. Max Trossmann joined the newspaper industry as a typesetter and proofreader, later completing his A-levels and studies. He has worked for titles such as "Tages-Anzeiger", "Luzerner Neuste Nachrichten", "Schweizer Illustrierte", "Bilanz" and "Beobachter". He also lectures at the Media Training Center in Lucerne and is a member of the Swiss Press Council.

The communications company Wirz ended the 2005 financial year on a successful note. The gross operating income of the independent and owner-managed Wirz Partner Holding amounted to CHF 21.5 million. According to a press release, the good result is due to the management buyout in mid-2005 - Jost Wirz transferred the majority of shares to the Wirz Group as part of a succession plan - and the acquisition of a majority stake in the online communications agency Assai Interactive. For Peter Strub, CEO of the Wirz Group, this year's result is further confirmation of the direction taken two years ago: "We have consistently developed the Wirz Group further in recent years and now offer all important communication disciplines in the three core areas of advertising, corporate communications and digital and dialog communication under one roof. This means we are well equipped to meet the growing demand for interdisciplinary and cross-media communication services." There are also signs of a recovery in the communications market, Strub added. The Wirz Group did not publish detailed figures on its annual results.