In cooperation with the University of Hamburg and the Hamburg Media School, the MAZ is offering a new course of study: the Professional Master in Journalism. In this highly practice-oriented course, graduates will learn the tricks of the journalistic trade and benefit from the latest findings in journalism and media research. They are supervised and taught for four semesters by international media professionals and academics. In the first nine months, the budding journalists study in Hamburg, followed by a practical phase of at least three months, and in the second year they are at the MAZ in Lucerne. "We opted for Hamburg because the Professional Master's program corresponds exactly to our ideas of a degree course with a strong practical focus. As academic director, Professor Siegfried Weischenberg guarantees that basic principles and research findings do not come from an ivory tower and are always taught in an application-oriented and project-based manner," said MAZ Director Sylvia Egli von Matt. International contacts will now be added to the Swiss network, which already functions excellently at the MAZ. The Hamburg Media School is supported by the University and the City of Hamburg as well as renowned German publishing houses, including Gruner+Jahr, Spiegel and Axel Springer. After successfully completing their studies, the prospective journalists graduate with a dual degree: the title "Master of Arts in Journalism" from the University of Hamburg and the MAZ diploma. The degree is internationally recognized and entitles students to write a dissertation. The new course starts on October 2, 2006 and the application deadline is June 30, 2006.

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) is launching a series of advertisements to mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3. "Try to write the truth now," says one of the ads, which depicts a journalist in handcuffs. Another subject: "They arrested me for writing the truth. Will they arrest you for reading it?". The association is offering the advertisements to newspapers around the world for publication around May 3. They are part of a package of essays, articles, interviews, infographics, cartoons and videos that are available free of charge. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the dangers faced by journalists who want to provide independent news and information to their readers and viewers. The slogan is "No locking up information - stop imprisoning journalists". The ads were created by Sanjeev Saikia of Interact Vision Design in India, Tom Callaghan of Hegel Ganias and Nigel Brand in Dubai, and the Chilean agency Veritas Publicidad in collaboration with the non-profit initiative "Act Responsibly" organized by AdForum to raise awareness of the importance of press freedom for society.

Thomas Hitz has joined PRW Public Relations + Werbe AG Zurich/Lucerne as a Senior Consultant. The 43-year-old previously worked as Team Leader Marketing Services and Head of Communications for SMEs at Swiss Life and as Marketing Manager/Project Manager at UBS. His areas of consultancy at PRW include the supervision of the national competition "Jugend gestaltet Lebensraum" at the University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil as well as leading functions in the marketing services of the "Glanzmann Consulting Group".

The advertising agency Matter & Gretener has won a new client: The Zurich-based agency is now working for the microbrewery Goldküstenbräu. Their first task is to advertise their World Cup tent, which will be located in Uetikon am See from June 9 to July 9.

As part of the CI/CD change at Credit Suisse, the advertising agency Grey has also revised the image of the subsidiary Credit Suisse Fides. The new corporate literature, for example, is intended to express Credit Suisse's new strategic direction, but also to reflect the qualities of the independent company, according to a press release. Grey has redesigned the company portrait and the Quaterly, which informs clients about market trends on a quarterly basis. The publication now has the character of a magazine, and further measures and company publications are in the pipeline. Grey has been responsible for the global presence of Credit Suisse Fides for over 10 years.

(pr) When James Bond dashes across the screen in his BMW Roadster Z3 or Will Smith holds his Converse shoes up to the camera in "I Robot", it is not pure coincidence. Marketing professionals refer to this as entertainment marketing. Professional entertainment marketing, which has long been established among companies in the USA - keyword film sponsoring, merchandising, product placements, promotions, etc. - has also gained enormously in importance for European and Swiss companies in recent years and is also a constant topic of discussion, for example in the case of product placements in television programs.marketing.ch has now taken on this unusual topic and, together with the Swiss entertainment marketing agency Creative Assets GmbH, has published a knowledge center with various articles such as technical reports, checklists, etc. This link leads to the section:
http://www.marketing.ch/kompetenz/entertainment/einstiegseite.asp
What is entertainment marketing?
Entertainment marketing is the strategic alliance between branded goods and the entertainment industry for marketing purposes and involves the presentation of products, brands or entire companies through entertainment. The consumer is offered not only the product itself, but also the associated experiences. The idea behind this is that it is the experience that makes a product unique and sets it apart from the competition.
the mass of products on offer.
Immerse yourself in the world of entertainment marketing and learn more about exciting backgrounds and the targeted use of branded products in the film industry. The competence center at www.marketing.ch offers you the perfect platform for this.

In the dispute over the exclusive marketing of the Football World Cup, the Football Association Fifa has suffered a defeat at the hands of the German Federal Court of Justice. The court completely rejected trademark protection for the "2006 FIFA World Cup" brand. Fifa can now no longer protect the official World Cup sponsors from other companies using this trademark for advertising purposes. With regard to the "WM 2006" trademark, the Federal Court of Justice ordered a new examination by the Federal Patent Court and referred the legal dispute between FIFA and the plaintiff Ferrero back to the lower court. Advertisers in Germany now have the option of advertising with the "Fussball WM 2006" trademark, taking into account the European Community trademarks that FIFA can still invoke.

This autumn, Coop will be the first major retailer to launch an international credit card in combination with the Supercard customer bonus program. The new service combines the collection function of the customer card with the payment function. According to a press release, the Coop card with an annual fee of CHF 9.90 is the cheapest credit card in Switzerland. As Coop announced on Thursday, detailed information will follow after the summer vacations.

Axel Springer Verlag is launching a cross-media journalism academy on January 1, 2007. The school, whose name will be announced at a later date, will be based on two pillars: Firstly, on the Axel Springer School of Journalism, which was founded in 1986, and secondly on a new development unit of the publishing house, which is working on specific projects on behalf of the Executive Board. Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer AG and responsible for the Academy, told Pressetext that the training center should establish itself as the top address for journalism training. Jan-Eric Peters, who is currently publisher of the newspapers Die Welt and Berliner Morgenpost and is responsible for the idea and concept of the academy, is to be its director. The previous director of the Axel Springer School of Journalism, Knut Teske, will step down at the end of the year and work as an author for the publishing house in future. The new academy will be responsible for the further education and training of Springer employees, but will also be open to external applicants. The exact concept is currently still in preparation and further information will be announced at a later date.

Ebly, the durum wheat product for which pop star Jürgen Drews stirs the ladle, is aimed at a very young target audience in Swiss nurseries. The foundation for nutritional behavior is laid in childhood, according to the press release. This is why Ebly is working with consultants from the Swiss Association of Certified Nutritionists to support 250 crèches. The crèches not only receive Ebly packs, but also recipe ideas and tips for a healthy diet. Jürgen Drews supports this campaign by visiting a crèche, accompanied by his guitar, of course. Ebly provides the "Mmh effect", the pop star provides the fun.

The total volume of advertisements in the daily and weekly press increased by 4.7 percent in March 2006 compared to the previous year. This was announced by Wemf on Thursday. However, commercial advertisements still recorded a decline of 3.3 percent. Income from job advertisements, however, increased by 34.5 percent. Supplements also developed positively and generated 14.3 percent more revenue. Advertisements in the Sunday press increased again, this time by 9 percent. The financial and business press can also be satisfied, with advertising revenues up 25.1 percent on the previous year. The general press recorded an increase of 6.1 percent. The specialty and trade press achieved increases of 18.2% and 10.4% respectively; in the case of the latter, the figures refer to page volume.

The government of the Principality of Liechtenstein has presented a total revision of the Media Promotion Act. The aim is to realign media funding and improve its effectiveness and efficiency, according to a press release. The aim is to establish more objective criteria for the granting of subsidies and a clear objective, namely the promotion of opinion-forming reporting on political topics and events to ensure a diversity of opinions. Media funding is now divided into direct media funding, which provides for a lump-sum payment for journalistic and editorial services, and indirect media funding, which reimburses the costs of dissemination as well as training and further education on a pro rata basis.