Special Interest Under the name SuperSolo, the St. Gallen-based publishing house Schreibwerk Verlag is planning a magazine aimed specifically at singles: "It will be a lifestyle magazine with class," explains publisher Mario Romano, with the same format and print as its sister title Massiv. SuperSolo is intended to be a guide to topics such as partnership, love and eroticism. It is aimed at men and women, who can also place paid ads in it. The magazine will be sold at newsstands for 4 francs. It will be launched in February/March with a print run of 30,000 copies. SuperSolo will initially be published five times a year.

Column In addition to Dutch-inspired self-doubt, our author also has a pious Christmas wish for the media. Anyone who read the newspapers and watched the television coverage in the first few weeks after the murder of provocateur Theo van Gogh could believe that the media's self-correcting mechanism was working after all: Suddenly, both left-wing and emphatically liberal papers discovered that the eloquent silence about pre-civilizational customs and traditions in some Muslim immigrant milieus was probably a misinterpretation of the principle of tolerance.And on the other side of the political-publicistic spectrum, there were not just shrill calls for cultural warfare, but also differentiating insights that could clear the way for an integration policy that does not demand that immigrants give themselves up. Apparently, the shock of the Amsterdam massacre was so profound that even hard-boiled ideologues were prepared to correct cherished certainties.
Both phenomena gave me hope that my own guild doesn't just see the world through tunnel vision after all. For a few days now, however, I've been plagued by doubts again. Because now that the initial shock has passed, I am once again reading all the creepy nonsense that I thought I had just overcome. And the abuses that have just been discovered are becoming normal again. Dutch parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali, for example, is still living underground. The police are unable to provide the elected representative with sufficient protection to allow her to pursue her political work and lead a private life. This is a scandal that goes beyond the infamous death threat against the writer Salman Rushdie, as it shakes the very foundation of the political system on which Western Europe rests.
And the media? A few embarrassed reports, the odd dutiful comment, that's about it. Instead, the heyday of Muslim apologists and anti-racism alarmists has dawned again. A national German newspaper, for example, is printing pages of epistles with admonitions not to fall into "Islamophobia" now. The hard-won realism regarding the problems in and with immigrant milieus is once again under suspicion.
Of course, there is no shortage of relevant "experts" who have to secure the flow of funding with correspondingly alarmist "studies". One of them claims to prove that 60 percent of the population believe that there are already too many foreigners living in Germany. Be that as it may, one thing is certain: we are not even allowed to talk about a "load limit" that attempts to differentiate between socially integrable and risky immigration. The ultimate nonsense was delivered by a Green minister in Berlin: in order to promote the integration of Muslims, German children should be taught Islam. Just as if a fanatical Christian child had killed a pious Sufi in Amsterdam, which is why he and his kind should be taught more about Islam.
Even this suggestion, which seems like a Harald Schmidt parody to an unbiased mind, is shrugged off. Apparently, the reflex that makes journalists feel like advocates and protectors of migrants is only temporarily suspended. While in the media reaction to right-wing extremism, every volunteer is allowed to waffle on about "extremism that comes from the middle of society", there is a total ban on making connections between extremism and milieu when it comes to Muslim migrants.
Of course, blanket judgments are not allowed, but precise questions are, especially when there are as many occasions for them as there are these days. Or maybe I'm just saying that because I'm basically a racist too?
> Heribert Seifert is the NZZ's media and culture correspondent in Germany.

Reader research The St. Galler Tagblatt uses a reader panel several times a year to sound out its image and needs.78 percent of readers consider the local section to be indispensable and read it regularly - even though it is the last of the five bundles. In second place is the second fret, but not the entire fret. 74 percent are primarily interested in the Eastern Switzerland pages; the cantonal pages and the stock exchange are of less interest (62 and 22 percent respectively). This is followed by the front page (70 percent) and the domestic section in the first fascicle (63 percent). Incidentally, less than 45 percent of readers appreciate the business section with cultural pages and alternating topics (knowledge, computers, sounds...) These are just some of the data from a brochure that the SGT will soon be sending out to agencies and customers. The special thing about this data is that it comes from an online readership panel that the SCT set up a year ago and has been using regularly since March 2004. Over 1200 people have registered for this panel, and a large proportion of them have already given the SGT four answers to a total of around 80 market research questions. A fifth survey is currently underway.
And this is how it works: at the beginning of the year, the SGT selected 20,000 addresses from its subscriber base - representative in terms of geographical distribution. These subscribers were asked in writing whether they would complete an online questionnaire several times a year so that the Tagblatt could "focus even more on your needs". A prize draw with 100 prizes was promised to all those who would take part in 80 percent of the surveys. In fact, over 1,200 people signed up and provided their e-mail addresses and socio-demographic data. They were then sent an e-mail with a password directing them to an online questionnaire. The surprising result: in all four surveys carried out to date, the completion rate after one week was 80 percent, followed by another 10 percent after a reminder e-mail. "Over 1000 people have responded each time so far," says publishing director Daniel Ehrat. The evaluation is automatic and continuous.
However, the panel also has a few flaws: "It tends to be male-dominated, and the participants are younger and better educated than the average SGT readership," says Ehrat. And of course they are all online
affinity. Another disadvantage is that it is not possible to check who fills in the questionnaire. Nevertheless, only one questionnaire is available per subscription number.
Nevertheless, Ehrat believes the results are meaningful. Firstly, there were hardly any differences if the responses were sorted according to the gender of the people originally contacted from the SGT subscription base, for example. Secondly, Ehrat found that the results hardly changed in percentage terms, regardless of whether the sample comprised 100, 500 or 1000 questionnaires.
In short, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for Ehrat. For example, the opportunity to conduct a regular dialog of sorts with SGT readers. In the first survey, for example, it was found that 50 percent of the panel participants were unaware of the SGT customer loyalty program "Tagblatt plus". As a result, the publisher intensified communication. In the next survey, Ehrat will now explore whether this has increased awareness. Questions have also been asked about editorial issues, such as whether the SGT sponsorship of FC St. Gallen has a negative impact on the SGT's credibility in terms of image. Next year, Ehrat also wants to include questions from advertisers - for example about the attention paid to a supplement. However, it is important that each questionnaire can be completed in around five minutes, says Ehrat. Another advantage: "The financial outlay is small compared to the CHF 1,500,000 to 200,000 we used to spend on market research every three years," says Ehrat. And those studies were only momentary location analyses. In contrast, Ehrat praises the new customer dialogue system as an instrument "that provides us with representative results quickly and cost-effectively in order to recognize changes in the needs of our readership at an early stage."
In January, the announced draw for 100 prizes - including a Smart car as the main prize - will take place and all panel participants will be informed. At the same time, Ehrat will be asking all panel members for a further year. After the second year, however, he wants to completely re-recruit the panel "so that we get some fresh blood again".
Readers in demandThe customer dialog system allows the St. Galler Tagblatt to continuously monitor its image, its services and its marketing. More than 1000 readers take part.
License from CHF 25,000The basic idea for the customer dialogue system originated in the USA, but was adapted to local conditions by SGT and the software company e-act AG in Horgen. The cooperation was brokered by SGT's parent company Freie Presse Holding AG (FPH), a subsidiary of the AG for the NZZ. The customer dialog system is now available to all publishers outside the NZZ Group and is part of the services offered by FPH-Services AG, the young company within FPH that provides support for regional newspapers (www.fph-services.ch).
As the entire system runs on a "neutral" server at e-act, the media involved have no insight into the panels and results of other customers, emphasizes Pepe Wiss, Managing Director of FPH Services.
Anyone interested in the customer dialog system will receive a demonstration, quotation and training from FPH Services. Wiss is currently in talks with four interested parties. He has also already presented the system to the NZZ itself. The one-off costs for the multi-client capable one-off license depend on the turnover of the interested publisher, but amount to at least CHF 25,000. Maintenance, hosting, helpline and training then cost a further CHF 6000 per year.
One more note on FPH: it is currently a 100 percent subsidiary of AG für die NZZ, but PubliGroupe will become a minority shareholder from the New Year - in return for the NZZ entry in Zürcher Unterländer and, in all probability, also in Zürichsee-Zeitung. (mk)
Panel for (almost) all SGT media SGT is currently working on a panel for Radio Aktuell, TeleOstschweiz (TVO) and Anzeiger
St. Gallen to set up their own panel. The Anzeiger panel - which was recruited through advertisements - had 250 interested parties. "We would have liked to have had more people, but we know from the SGT that even with a larger sample there are hardly any more shifts," says Daniel Ehrat.
At TVO, recruitment via advertisements, TV and radio spots is almost complete. Around 500 participants were found, with one tenth receiving paper questionnaires on a trial basis. Recruitment for Radio Aktuell is scheduled for January. Ehrat also wants to introduce an "unsubscriber panel" for SGT: 1,000 people who have canceled their SGT subscription within the last six months will be asked about their reasons "in even greater detail" than before. (mk)
Markus Knöpfli

Advertising expenditure statistics Switzerland has had two advertising statistics for a year now. The result is clear in most cases: two are too many, one has to go. But which one? For Urs Schneider, owner of the media agency Mediaschneider, the matter is clear: "I can only afford one advertising statistic." He has therefore checked which is more useful to him, those from Media Focus (MF) or the Advertising Index Switzerland (AIS) from Wemf. He took a "very simple" approach to the evaluation: He took the plans he had made for three clients in 2003 and compared the actual gross volume with the results from MF and AIS. He found "that the AIS figures are generally closer to reality." This was particularly true for print-heavy media mixes, while the figures for cinema and TV were almost identical for both providers. However, Schneider was most perplexed by the fact that the deviations between the surveys were sometimes very high and in extreme cases accounted for more than 20 percent of effective spending.
When Schneider investigated the reasons, he discovered that MF does not include the costs for inserts and calculates the volumes far too high for newspapers with a front page system (see box). However, the AIS also had shortcomings: its list of titles and media covered is shorter and the segmentation by sector is inadequate. Nevertheless, Schneider judged the AIS to be "more efficient" and opted for it.
AIS closer to realityA similar conclusion was reached at Coop. Karin Heliopoulos, Head of Marketing at Coop, says that it happens time and again that the AIS itself shows regularly placed customer volumes in a print title in one month and not in another. Or that a title is forgotten in the allocation of a combination. "That casts doubt on the reliability of the data." Nevertheless, she subscribes to the AIS. "Overall, it is closer to reality and it shows the insert volumes that are important to us," says Heliopoulos.
Conversely, MF was named "preferred supplier" by the Swiss Advertising Association (SWA) at the beginning of the year. This came after several negotiations with both suppliers and with the aim of providing SWA members with guidance in the new currency jungle.
Almost a year on, the disorientation does not seem to have been alleviated. A non-representative survey by Werbewoche
In any case, it can be concluded that several advertising clients either use the advertising statistics only selectively - and then both - or that they delegate the basic evaluation to the media agencies.
MF is under pressure to actA certain helplessness can also be felt on the part of the SWA. It has drawn up a list of demands for the two providers. However, several points have not yet been met (see interview). For example, the SWA's demand for an independent authority for data controlling is far from being implemented. It should carry out random checks on data suppliers as well as AIS and MF to ensure that the data and its handling meet the agreed standards. And an advisory board to incorporate the needs of data users is also not in sight. MF, which made promises in this regard at the beginning of the year, is under pressure to act.
The required contracts between providers and data suppliers are also lacking. They should commit both sides to uniform standards, continuity of supply and controlling. Ironically, the AIS is now ahead of the "preferred supplier" in this respect. It can boast a whole series of contracts, for example with publishers and APG, while MF is apparently empty-handed, according to research by Werbewoche. MF Managing Director Lukas Zihlmann denies this and claims to have contracts "with most marketers".
The reason why AIS is more likely to enter into contracts is that it offers a financial fee for the data supply, which also aroused covetousness towards the former monopolist MF, which previously received the data for free. According to Zihlmann, however, MF offers suppliers "access to certain advertising data". However, this has not yet reached them. In any case, despite a broad survey of data suppliers, Werbewoche learned nothing about a concrete MF offer. Everywhere it was simply stated: "So far we have not received any response from MF to our request for compensation." Incidentally, the TV marketers are being particularly clever in this matter: They are demanding a generic solution from both providers and have also integrated the medium of cinema via Cinecom. Contracts with the statistics providers are still pending.
As tedious as the situation is for most of those involved, there are also those who see something good in the year-long competition between the statistics providers. A long overdue discussion about the quality of the data has finally been initiated, they say. "So far, everyone has delivered what they wanted, sometimes with sponsorship or freespace, sometimes without. Nobody has checked this," even data suppliers complain behind closed doors. Some are therefore pinning their hopes on the SWA's efforts, even supporting them by wanting to oblige them to carry out data controlling in the envisaged contracts with MF and AIS.
The loudest request from all sides is one that was already expressed in November 2003: "The best thing would be for the two providers to merge their statistics." However, this will probably take a while yet, as the rifts are deep. "We have held talks with Wemf several times, but Wemf said no for the time being last summer," says Lukas Zihlmann regretfully. And adds: "But our doors remain open." Wemf Director René Schmutz, on the other hand, seems to think that merger discussions are premature; the AIS mission has not yet been fulfilled. "We set up the AIS because MF had been delivering poor data for decades. Now we have proven that we can do better." The prerequisite for merger talks is therefore "consistent MF data and reasonable prices". "But the market should actually decide," he says.
Two statistics, two methodsThe large print volume is measured differently by MF and AIS: MF measures it itself and has so far dispensed with inserts (an annual volume in the hundreds of millions). MF is currently endeavoring to obtain this data from the publishers and is examining a self-collection system in parallel, as Managing Director Lukas Zihlmann explains. The AIS is different: the publishers provide it with both the page and insert volumes.
A second difference: MF wants to report gross-to-gross values, i.e. advertising pressure including freespace and free placements. AIS, on the other hand, has focused on the "invoiced gross" (excluding freespace and free placements) - with one shortcoming: under pressure from major customers, TV and cinema only provide gross-to-gross values for both providers, which is why no media mix comparison is possible with AIS.
Conversely, out-of-home advertisers have always only delivered their invoiced gross figures, which strictly speaking also makes it impossible for MF to make a complete intermedia comparison. Since gross-to-gross
data is also used abroad and MF is part of the Nielsen network, MF data is internationally comparable, while AIS data is not. However, Wemf Director René Schmutz has plans to establish the AIS approach abroad and make it internationally comparable one day. He says that there have already been corresponding inquiries without being more specific.
Further differences between the providers: according to Schmutz, AIS receives the data of "all relevant marketers and self-marketers", but the list of media and titles collected by MF is more comprehensive. In addition, the AIS database contains the names of the 1500 largest advertising clients and their products and services, while MF's database contains 110000 products and 50000 companies. And of course the AIS has only been in existence for two years, whereas MF has a long history. (mk)
Markus Knöpfli

Gastronomy The Hallenstadion restaurants have commissioned the advertising agency Lesch + Frei to redesign their corporate identity. When Zurich's Hallenstadion reopens its doors next August after renovation, guests can expect a brighter and more comfortable ambience, as well as a conference center and culinary highlights in five new restaurants. Lesch + Frei is realizing their appearance on the basis of the corporate identity of AG Hallenstadion, which was also created by the Zurich agency.

Radio In the consultation on Bakom's VHF study, the government of the canton of Basel-Stadt spoke out in favor of scenario 3, which envisages achieving the best possible quality of VHF coverage for existing broadcasters instead of freeing up new frequencies. The Government Council considers the maintenance or improvement of reception quality to be significantly more important than the quantitative expansion of program offerings.

Jürg Siegrist, Director of the Swiss Advertisers Association (SWA), on demands on MF and AIS.Werbewoche Two advertising statistics have been on the market for a year now. Jürg Siegrist The SWA originally formulated a catalog of requirements for the two providers. Eleven months later, we can see that they still do not meet all the requirements. One example: with AIS we have two currencies, which does not allow a clean media mix comparison. MF, on the other hand, does not provide any data on newspaper inserts, as only a few publishing houses provide MF with the data. On a positive note, the SWA has also made some progress.
For example? MF used to sell its data to the media agencies, who could then sell it on to their customers. That was not transparent. Now the clients buy the data directly from MF and then choose for themselves who they make the data available to. This makes MF cheaper and its prices more transparent, but the prices are still too high for the market.
Why does MF not receive any insert data from the publishers? This is where politics comes into play: the publishers support Wemf's AIS. It's as simple as that.
Conversely, MF also received backing: they recommended him as a preferred supplier.
I stand by this decision, it is backed up by facts. MF was the most responsive to our demands back in February 2004. However, some important issues are still unresolved.
Where is it still lacking?
The contracts with the data suppliers that we have requested are not progressing.
Is this due to MF and AIS? No, it's down to the data suppliers. I don't know why exactly they don't want to conclude any contracts. On the other hand, MF was able to launch the new Goldbach Electronic Media Index with Goldbach Media. However, this was done without the knowledge and consent of the other TV marketers. This just shows that priorities are being set differently.
What about the Advisory Board that MF promised you in the spring? this does not yet exist and the launch date is still undecided.
Is there a lack of suitable people? No, we haven't got that far yet.
But the board is already coming? It should. I am cautious.
Would you recommend MF as a preferred supplier again today?
We are not entirely happy with the current situation. But
Nevertheless, there is no question of correcting the decision made at the time.
What are you working towards now? Towards an industry solution with a standardized currency and international compatibility, so that advertising statistics do not degenerate into an isolated solution and do not fail due to the self-interest of the two providers. This requires a broad-based advisory board that provides input and requests to the statistics providers. Clean controlling, contracts with the data providers and a solution to the insert problem are also important.
Jürg Siegrist wants a broad-based advisory board that provides input to statistics providers.

Interview: Markus Knöpfli

Food The communications agency Dr. Peter P. Knobel now serves the Hiestand Group. The internationally active manufacturer of frozen baked goods has entrusted Dr. Knobel with its overall communications.The mandate includes the coordination of activities at the locations Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia. Tailor-made PR instruments are used locally according to the needs of the national companies. In doing so, Dr. Knobel has access to Hill & Knowlton's worldwide partner network.

Fundraising One Marketing collects donations for Heks and avoids dramatic images According to the study "Donation Market Switzerland 2003", the volume of donations has still grown in the last five years, but the signs of a saturated market are clearer than ever. The average donation has fallen, while the number of organizations has continued to increase. "And donors have never been so demanding and critical, because they have a choice," explains Ruth Wagner, CEO of One Marketing, the agency that developed the new donation campaign for the Swiss Protestant Church Aid Organization (Heks).
This year, a slightly different approach was chosen: The TV commercial focuses on the successes to date and on the goal to which everyone has a direct connection - an independent life. However, education is the first prerequisite for this.
The low-budget spot plays with this term, which we intuitively associate with school education and vocational training, by linking the learning content that is vital for survival in third world countries with buzzwords in an irritating way and thus questioning our codes.
The spot marks the start of a four-year education campaign with projects in Switzerland and abroad under the motto "Know how - the basics of self-help". Various national measures - from cinema slides to mailings and a supplement in the Kirchenbote - flank the TV appearance.
Heks campaign: Only education can help sustainably.
Luca Aloisi

Press The jury of the European Newspaper Award - organized by German newspaper designer Norbert Küpper in collaboration with the journalism magazines Medium Magazin, Der Österreichische Journalist and Media Facts - has awarded nine prizes to Swiss newspapers: St. Galler Tagblatt as well as NZZ am Sonntag brought it to four awards each, while the Aargauer Zeitung received one award. However, the Swiss press came away empty-handed with the main prizes: The newspapers with the best design are published in Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and the UK. 334 newspapers from 26 countries took part.

Column You have to be able and willing to afford ethics - even in journalism. American economists have recently been increasingly concerned with the question of why certain forms of moral failure are spreading in Western societies. Andrei Shleifer from Harvard University, for example, blames the laxer approach to ethical standards not on the greed of individuals, but on the basis of the capitalist economic system itself: competition.Using five examples - child labour, corruption, executive salaries, balance sheet manipulation and the commercialization of universities - he shows how certain patterns of action that were once ostracized or even
were punishable, are becoming increasingly common and popular due to competitive pressure. At least Shleifer assumes that the responsible actors actually appreciate ethically correct behavior. (In his case, these are entrepreneurs or university presidents, but the principle can easily be applied to others.
professional groups and therefore also transferable to media professionals). However, this behavior is "a good like other goods". In other words, it is subject to the same market laws of supply and demand as everything else.
If journalistic competitors do not adhere to the moral standards and rules of their industry and thus reduce their costs, the prices for certain media products on the market will also fall - and with them the revenues that can be generated from competing products. This loss means that ethical behavior also becomes too expensive, i.e. unprofitable, for the "offender's" competitors. The result: less ethics is demanded of media professionals and produced accordingly. The result: as competitive pressure increases, traditional inhibition thresholds fall. According to the laws of self-acceleration, moral standards are spiraling downwards ever faster on this negative spiral.
Shleifer does have one consolation: "When societies become richer, the willingness to pay for ethically sound goods and services also increases - brought about by laws as well as private purchasing decisions. This is why state sanctions are far more effective and fruitful in affluent societies than in poor ones." So is media ethics a luxury good that can only be afforded or is only desirable during periods of prosperity? For those "emerging markets" that are on the verge of new, sustainable prosperity, this could be a glimmer of hope. However, where belts need to be tightened, the opposite dynamic seems to have been set in motion: poor prospects for the ageing European industrialized nations.
companies and their media.
As the fear of losing one's job grows or the compulsion arises to assert oneself as an "outsourced" journalist under miserable conditions on the free content market, the willingness to secure one's existence or the usual income level by reducing one's own effort (keyword PR paraphrases instead of one's own research) or through lucrative additional earnings (PR work in fields that one also works in as a journalist) grows. The (un)ethical logic of competition could thus ensure that "anything goes" continues to take hold in journalism. "First comes the food, then comes the morals": the basic social law that Bert Brecht already formulated in the 1920s.
years ago in the Threepenny Opera, has lost none of its validity, but has gained a great deal in dynamism.
Stephan Russ-Mohl on the ethical behavior of media professionals.

> Stephan Russ-Mohl is a professor of journalism at the University of Lugano.

Radio SRG will cease broadcasting radio programs via the Astra satellite on 13 December this year. The majority of SRG radio stations have been available via Astra Digital Radio (ADR) since 1997.Radio SRG will cease broadcasting radio programs via the Astra satellite on 13 December this year. The majority of SRG radio stations had been available via Astra Digital Radio (ADR) since 1997. Since June 2002, they have now also been broadcast via Eutelsat in the DVB standard. In future, SRG intends to concentrate all of its 16 radio and seven television channels on the orbital position 13 degrees/Eutelsat.