Publishers The AZ Medien Group achieved a net profit of CHF 1.0 million in the 2003 financial year. Despite this improvement, the profit remained at an unsatisfactory level, according to a press release. Consolidated operating income fell by 9 percent to 166.0 million francs. AZ publisher Peter Wanner: "2003 was one of the most difficult financial years I have ever experienced."

Promotion prize The Advertising Club of Eastern Switzerland and the direct advertising company AWZ St. Gallen are launching a competition for young talent for creative personalized advertising aimed at advertisers under 30 in Eastern Switzerland. They can register at www.kreativeostschweizer.ch until the end of May. The participants will be put into teams. The task is to design a direct mail campaign for a real customer - a non-profit organization from Eastern Switzerland, which will be determined in an online vote by the end of May

Advertising Piero and his gymnastics team were awarded "zero points" for their disgraceful performance of "Celebrate" in the preliminary round of the Song Contest. The Swiss pop debacle was not inconvenient for a digital camera from Panasonic with 4.2 megapixels. The creatives at Jung von Matt/Limmat were able to turn the Swiss defeat into something positive with a special ad. With the headline "4.2 million points more than Switzerland in Istanbul", they advertised the Lumix FZ10 from Panasonic. Equally reassuring, although not explicitly mentioned: Oropax are superfluous here.

Guest commentary by Roger de DiesbachNow it's enough! Successful newspapers such as "Le Nouvelliste du Valais" or "La Liberté" in Fribourg, which are increasing their circulation, are finding that competition is becoming increasingly unfair. They are regularly confronted with obstacles that are fatally reminiscent of back shots: these daily newspapers have just had to accept losses in the tough negotiations with Swiss Post (earlier closing, massive increase in transport costs). And it is precisely at this moment that Wemf is choosing to reorganize the economic areas allocated to the newspapers. These are crucial for the advertising market. For example, if a large Zurich advertising agency wants to reach the Fribourg and Lausanne regions, it will advertise in the most widely read newspaper there. However, the new Wemf map amputates the economic areas of the "Liberté" (15) around the areas of the Fribourg and Vaud Broye and the Veveyse region with a total of 26,000 households; those of the "Nouvelliste" (16) around the Chablais with 16,000 households. Other regional newspapers such as the "Quotidien jurassien", the "Südostschweiz" and the "Mittelland Zeitung" will also be disadvantaged.
The approach and the proposed project are insane. In our regions, all the political leaders interviewed are shocked by this "dog days project", while its authors claim that their conclusions are based on the statements of 2441 municipal presidents.
Wemf's plan seriously reduces the zones of influence of the "Nouvelliste" and the "Liberté", which distorts the true status of these newspapers and dramatically shrinks their advertising market. It was already difficult to make it clear in Zurich that French-speaking Switzerland does not only consist of the Léman arc from Geneva to Lausanne. With the planned amputation, we will completely become "quantités négligeables", which the major Swiss advertisers will ignore without hesitation.
Worse still, by allocating to the Lausanne economic area what it takes away from Fribourg and Valais, the project tailors a tailor-made suit for the "large Vaudois daily newspaper" planned by the Edipresse group. A veiled attack by Edipresse to kill off the last independent newspapers? We are not suggesting that. But we do note that coincidence is rolling out the red carpet for the giant of the French-speaking Swiss press landscape and that the Edipresse representative sits alongside friends of the major press groups on the ultimately decisive Wemf Board of Directors. Elephants can easily do themselves a service here, as not a single representative of the regional press sits on this illustrious board.
We strongly oppose this plan, which destroys equality of opportunity between newspapers. We demand that readers and advertisers remain the arbiters of the success or failure of newspapers.
> Roger de Diesbach is editor-in-chief of La Liberté.

Column Regular editorial observation of one's own profession: for media of all kinds, this is a safe and cost-effective means of increasing their credibility and attractiveness. The media themselves have long encouraged the public to believe that professionally researched and prepared information is available free of charge; that citizens are virtually entitled to be informed comprehensively and free of charge. Anyone who wanted to know how journalism works and how editorial content is created learned just as little about it in their newspaper as they did on television. Many publishers, directors and editors-in-chief have long repressed the fact that their work is just as interesting and relevant as politics or business when it comes to reporting.
After a brief heyday, media journalism has recently been drastically decimated again - at least in Switzerland and Germany. Due to the crisis, the departments set up for this purpose have been closed down one after the other. Whether it's Weltwoche, Tages-Anzeiger, Facts or the Bund, they all seem to be able to do without their own media pages again.
I consider this to be a major miscalculation. Editors-in-chief and publishing house managers are sawing away at the branch on which they themselves are all sitting. They are depriving themselves of the only platform through which they can communicate credibly with a wider public about their own profession. As Zurich journalism professor Ulrich Saxer warned years ago, the public has little chance of developing its own quality criteria if such information is not provided. Perhaps the reason why so many young people read 20 Minuten instead of Tagi or NZZ is because no one has taught them what the added value of the latter might be and why it might be worth buying a newspaper rather than a can of Coke.
Even customer-oriented large companies, ministries and non-profit organizations do not rely solely on advertising and direct contact, but also engage in active public relations work. Media releases from Novartis, BMW and Swisscom require editorial "disguise" or embedding in order to reach their target audience effectively and credibly.
Media companies also have to walk this rocky road. However, the media are increasingly depriving themselves of precisely this opportunity to report regularly and competently on their own profession and its concerns on special pages.
Of course, this purpose cannot be achieved with a department that allows itself to be instrumentalized by the internal PR department. Professional media journalism is characterized by the fact that it resists self-congratulation and cross-promotion as well as all temptations to pour scorn on the competition or keep it quiet.
On the contrary: for credible, fair and balanced media journalism, occasional self-criticism is virtually constitutive. Major American daily newspapers have been showing us for years how this can be institutionalized.
Anyone who believes that media journalism is dispensable is contributing to the fact that journalism as a whole could become superfluous: If publishing houses invest in their PR departments, but on the other hand think they can rationalize away journalists who report on their own subject with impunity, this is definitely the wrong signal.
Especially in a society in which traditional journalism is increasingly being displaced by innovative PR anyway.
Stephan Russ-Mohl calls for more and bolder media journalism.

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

Trade journals Despite a double crisis in the industry, Xtra-Travel dares to launch - and is poaching in foreign territory.Swiss trade journals lost 12 million francs in advertising revenue last year. That is 5.5 percent. The same trend is continuing in the services sector in 2004: minus 8.5 percent advertising pages by April. A bad time to launch a trade magazine, one might think. Nevertheless, TVG Touristik Verlagsgesellschaft launches the industry magazine Xtra-Travel. In the travel sector, of all places, which according to the World Tourism Organization has just experienced the sharpest global decline in its history.
Publishing director Guido Käppeli believes in success despite the difficult environment. A market survey before the launch identified a clear need, he says. The industry that Xtra-Travel is aimed at is called "MICE": Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions. According to Käppeli, there are magazines everywhere abroad that deal with business trips, convention venues and employee motivation in tourism. In Switzerland, Xtra-Travel fills a gap.
A narrow gap, however. To give Xtra-Travel more scope, TVG is transforming the trade magazine into a lifestyle magazine. "Because the Swiss market is small, we have expanded the range of topics to include luxury travel and events," explains Käppeli. Xtra-Travel should not only be read by managing directors, but also by their wives. In addition to the tour operators, the travelers themselves become the target group.
With this positioning, the magazine also offers itself to advertisers from outside the industry. TVG has its eye on the more crisis-resistant luxury goods sector. The first issue already covers perfumes, cars and sunglasses. Käppeli wants to tackle the clothing sector next.
Stefano Monachesi

Supplements The New York Times wants to conquer the old world as a new tabloid supplement. Last Monday, the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) published the small-format, 16-page "International Weekly" of the New York Times for the third time. The Munich and New York editors-in-chief jointly select the topics for the digest, which is divided into the sections "World Trends", "Americana", "Business" and "Arts". If SZ CEO Klaus Josef Lutz is to be believed, the largest German quality daily newspaper has already been able to produce this "added value for readers and advertisers" (self-declaration) on a cost-neutral basis.
The 20 percent share in two half-page advertisements, each costing 80,000 euros, was apparently enough. The remaining four-fifths went in equal parts to the newspapers Le Monde, El Pais, La Repubblica and Daily Telegraph - the other European cooperation partners of the US paper.
Ever since the launch of the "SZ-Bibliothek", of which a remarkable 60,000 copies have been sold after ten weeks, Lutz, who was brought in from Unaxis in September 2002, has been known for his non-conformism in publishing strategy. His lack of industry experience seems to be more of an advantage than a disadvantage for the Swiss-born Bavarian.
Keenly observed innovationsNot only the German competition, but also local newspaper publishers are now keeping a wary eye on Lutz's innovations. The head of the Tages-Anzeiger publishing house, Maili Wolf, for example, said she had an evaluation carried out to see whether the book project could be translated to the Swiss market. However, the postal postage, which is twice as high for such parcels here in Switzerland, led to the premature termination of the exercise.
The signs seem more favorable for a local NYT supplement. Wolf considers this idea to be "very worth considering", especially as there is nothing to prevent Switzerland from being included in this pan-European experiment during the test phase, which runs until the beginning of August (see interview on the right). And even after that, SZ should have no objection to Tagi participating equally in the cross-border model - after all, the Munich-based company has been working with the Zurich-based company in the advertising and distribution sector for some time.
NZZ keeps a low profileIn addition, the two newspapers share some of their correspondents - something the NZZ does not do as a matter of principle. "Exclusive foreign reporting is one of our absolute core competencies," says its publishing director Tobias Trevisan. And adds: "Their expertise would be less complemented than called into question by such a supplement."
That's why the NZZ turned down the offer from its German sales and advertising partner Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
received an inquiry in 2000 regarding its "English Edition", which was still published daily at the time. Since mid-2002, the magazine enclosed with the International Herald Tribune has been called FAZ Weekly, but is reportedly still highly loss-making.
Currently one of five: The New York Times Weekly is also distributed via the SZ.

"We have agreed on risk sharing "The managing director of Süddeutsche Zeitung, Klaus Josef Lutz, on "his" New York Times.
WW Mr. Lutz, who took the initiative for the cooperation between SZ and NYT?
Klaus Josef Lutz The idea for a weekly supplement came from our American colleagues. In their search for congenial European publishers, they also inquired in Munich. As 2004 is all about new business ideas for the SZ, they found an open door.
The New York Times International Weekly is published by five newspapers in five countries and is financed by advertisements. Does the publisher
necessary pan-European advertising market at all?
This is exactly what we want to find out with the market test, which is limited to twelve weeks. Like all other SZ supplements, this one has to pay for itself. So if we can't nibble away at the budgets allocated in London or Paris, we won't have to fiddle about for long. But I assume that we will succeed together with our partners.
The first issue was ad-free ...
... because the acquisition was not yet working optimally. But we already had two bookings in the second issue. And things are looking even better for the next ones. In any case, the new offer has met with broad interest from readers. This is shown by the many positive responses we have received via the hotline set up especially for this purpose.
With a print run of around 500,000 copies, who pays for the not inconsiderable paper and printing costs?
Like all other participants in this experiment, we have also agreed a risk-sharing arrangement with the New York Times.
The supplement is published in tabloid format, which is unusual for both the NYT and SZ.
Yes, we also want to try something formally new. Our partner originally planned a broadsheet, but we are taking the opportunity for
another attempt. This is primarily in view of a new supplement strategy that we are currently discussing. However, this will not affect the main magazine.
Do the exclusive rights claimed in your press release also extend to Switzerland? No, Switzerland is not explicitly mentioned in the preliminary agreement. However, this should look different in a possible final agreement after the trial phase.
Interview: Oliver Classen
Oliver Classen

Publishers Das Pendlerblatt advocates the publication of quarterly figures. Currently a minority concern. "In terms of readership figures, we will oust Blick from first place this year," the HandelsZeitung quoted Rolf Bollmann, Managing Director of 20 Minuten, as saying last week. For Wemf, this assertion - presumably based on interim evaluations of Mach Basic 2004 announced for the fall - represents a delicate problem case. "If such statements become fashionable, we will have to rethink our business practice," comments Wemf marketing manager Carine Lins, who incidentally came across Bollmann's statement while reading it herself and was not made aware of it by 20 Minuten's competitors. Two scenarios are conceivable: an increase in the contractual penalty, which currently amounts to CHF 50,000, or the discontinuation of individual quarterly reporting. As Bollmann has not given any concrete figures, he will probably be able to avoid the contractually fixed fine. However, the clause is not a paper tiger, as it was applied twice in 2003 alone - in both cases against Tamedia titles.
Bollmann, who has also recently started reporting to Tamedia, is not aware of any breach of contract. "I was just expressing my personal opinion, albeit one that is supported by generally known reach trends." And adds that "growth-oriented publishers such as 20 Minuten" have long been fighting for quarterly publication of the Wemf figures, but have so far been thwarted by "the vested interests in the industry". A vote in which Bollmann's anger at the industry tenor can also be heard, which still likes to claim a difference in quality between the readership of paid and free newspapers - without reason, the 20 Minuten man is sure.
(oc)

Publishers The Südostschweiz Media Group made a profit of 3.4 million Swiss francs in the 2003 financial year. This is 48 percent more than in the previous year and the turnover of the Chur-based publishing house fell by 6 percent to 129 million francs. The number of full-time positions was reduced by 2.1 percent to 589.

An error crept into last week's article on the packaging industry (17/04): It is correct that Limmatdruck/Zeiler is now the largest Swiss sheet-fed offset printer in the fine cardboard sector. The print products division has been restructured as "Media Services" and works with external partners in the printing sector. The packaging division, on the other hand, was expanded in Spreitenbach and Köniz in terms of both technology and personnel in order to be able to offer national and international customers a broader range of services.

Competitions The International Advertising Festival in Cannes is launching the Radio Lions, a competition for radio advertising, in 2005, and the international jury will judge the spots according to a proven method that takes language differences into account. A seminar on "How do big brands learn to use radio effectively?" will be held this year to introduce the new category.

Awards Hundreds of thousands of EU citizens celebrated the end of European division with folk festivals and fireworks. The Wall Street Journal Europe honored the event with the competition "The Face of Europe in 2004". "To be able to present our results in the WSJE and to use the platform to present our agency is an opportunity we couldn't pass up," said Christian Prüfer, founder of the Berlin agency Lecker Werbung - and won. The team of six translated the complex interrelationships in the "Welcome Neighbors" concept into a sympathetically simple form and prevailed against major international competition. The motif: a doorbell board on which the nameplates of the newcomers were mounted next to the long-established tenants - S. Tonia, H. Ungary, Li Thuania and what they are all called.