Dengler: Search could take months
It may still be some time before Markus Spillmann’s successor as editor-in-chief of the NZZ is named. «We’ll have a new editor-in-chief when we’re ready,» said NZZ CEO Veit Dengler on Monday evening in Vienna.
This could well take a few more months. In recent days, there have been many rumors and untruths surrounding the announcement of Spillmann's departure, Dengler said at a NZZ.at club evening, according to the Austrian news agency APA. There is currently a process being led by the board of directors, at the end of which there will be a new name, Dengler said. In the course of this, the editorial team will also be consulted, he added. However, communication on this matter on the part of the Board of Directors could definitely be improved, he admitted.
Dengler did not want to make a quick decision his primary goal, saying that he simply needed "the best people. In the meantime, he was not worried about the paper itself, as there was sufficient expertise in the editorial team and, with the three deputy editors-in-chief, a functioning editorial team.
Spillmann is leaving the newspaper at the end of the year, as was announced last week. Behind the departure are differing views on how the group should reorganize its journalistic management in the NZZ division. On Monday, Markus Somm, editor-in-chief of the Basler Zeitung, had announced that he had been under discussion as a successor but had decided against it (Werbewoche.ch reported).
NZZ.at to be launched on January 21
The launch of NZZ.at is already fixed: The Austrian offshoot will go "live" on January 21, as Dengler announced on Monday. The Austrian emphasized that journalism will remain the core business of the NZZ. All in all, he said, there are currently four to five projects in the quiver, which will be presented in the coming months. In Austria, NZZ.at should find a place in the quality segment, he said. "It's time for digital paid products," Dengler said. Dengler did not want to rule out the possibility that a weekly newspaper in print could follow if it is successful. (SDA)





















