However, the Swiss Press Awards 20 will be continued in digital form. The following announcements via newsletter and other channels are planned:

• The five Swiss Press Photo category winners will be announced on April 3
• The journalists nominated for the Swiss Press Award will be announced on April 17
• On April 29, the winners of the Swiss Press categories Text, Online, Audio, Video and Local, the Swiss Press Journalist of the Year and the Swiss Press Photographer of the Year will be announced. In addition, the new music video with the sixth Swiss Press Song 20 by Pat Burgener will be released for the first time

Washing hands - the number one principle in the fight against coronavirus - cannot be repeated often enough. Müslüm, the likeable Turk with the distinctive eyebrows, is also aware of this and always manages to expose social phenomena with his exaggerated portrayals. "Some people wash money, others wash cars, you wash your hands," he says succinctly in the Swiss Red Cross's new awareness campaign, before launching into an insistent monologue about the importance of washing your hands shortly afterwards.

With Müslüm as the ambassador, it is possible to address a serious topic with a certain light-heartedness. This was also the biggest challenge in producing the video, says director Luki Frieden. "It was a balancing act. It was important to us that we managed to do justice to the seriousness of the issue despite the humor."

Campaign translated into 16 languages 

"Finally we have something that unites us all. Regardless of our level of education, faith or origin," muses Müslüm at the beginning of the video, addressing the core of the message: The coronavirus affects us all. It is therefore all the more important that the film reaches everyone, including foreign-speaking people in Switzerland, says Sabine Zeilinger, Head of Communications at the Swiss Red Cross. "For this reason, we have had the campaign translated into 16 languages and published at Virus.redcross.ch built a multilingual platform." The campaign has been translated into French, Italian, English, Albanian, Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish, Mandarin, Portuguese, Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Tigrinya, Turkish and Tibetan.

Slowing the spread of the coronavirus 

The video concludes with the behavior and hygiene recommendations of the Federal Office of Public Health FOPH. In addition to washing your hands more often, these include sneezing and coughing into the crook of your arm, refraining from shaking hands and keeping a safe distance from other people. People with symptoms of the disease are also encouraged to stay at home. These measures are intended to slow down the spread of the coronavirus and protect the elderly and weakened in particular. Because as Müslüm says in the campaign: "The greatest loss would be if we were to lose the wisdom of the elderly."

The prevention campaign "Stop the virus!" was realized in record time with the spontaneous and largely voluntary support of all those involved. Semih Yavsaner aka Müslüm wrote the script within a few hours, and "Stop the virus!" was then filmed within a day at the Blitz & Donner agency in Bern and produced by its owner Stefan Gilgen. The film was directed by Thun filmmaker Luki Frieden.

At present, the live communications industry is facing tasks the likes of which society has not had to cope with for a long time. As the industry association writes, the entire situation surrounding the corona virus is already "running completely and at breakneck speed out of control" and no one has any idea how much worse it will get.

Expo Event Swiss LiveCom Association launched a survey among its 160 active member companies. The following figures emerged:

• Job cuts of 30% are expected by the end of April if no financial assistance is available by then.
• The effective liquidity protection of the companies varies completely by nature, but is on average between one and a maximum of three months.
• The first layoffs have already had to be announced, although this is the absolute last measure and brutal emergency solution for all companies.
• 96% of the members surveyed have already had to apply for short-time work.
• The foregone gross sales since February 28, 2020 amount to approximately 260 million Swiss francs.
• The gross sales loss expected by the end of May 2020 is approximately 450 million Swiss francs.

In this context, the association welcomes the measure announced on Wednesday by the Federal Council of the legal standstill in the debt collection system from Thursday until and including April 4, 2020, the effect of which, however, is more of a psychological nature. Also welcomed are the 10 billion francs made available for short-time work and bridging loans.

The main demands of the industry association, however, are quick and unbureaucratic measures, which is why it proposes a few concrete ones:

• A retroactive application of the short-time compensation, so that also the up to now accrued
• loss can be claimed.
• Suspension of federal taxes, value-added taxes, and cantonal and municipal taxes without interest on arrears run for the companies.
• Special regulation or suspension of payment of contributions for social insurances / family allowances without negative consequences for the companies.
• Immediate expansion of the scope of application for short-time work to include fixed-term contracts, temporary employment relationships, business owners, apprentices, persons caring for their children at home due to school closures, and employees' spouses

Expo Event Swiss LiveCom Association will again present these demands and the comprehensive factual situation to the federal government.

A massive amount of horror news from the economy is currently raining down on the Federal Parliament. The live communications industry is fully aware that tasks are looming here and now, the likes of which this country has not had to master since World War 2, according to a statement issued on Thursday. "From this point of view, the exchange of information at institutions such as roundtables and in direct contact with politicians has so far gone over commendably. But the very big problem is: the performance has just begun. And it's already going completely off the rails at breakneck speed, especially since no one has the slightest idea how many more acts this drama has in store."

The national industry association Expo Event Swiss LiveCom Association has launched a survey among its 160 active member companies to get as close to the pulse as possible. The numbers are startling:

• Job cuts of 30 percent are expected by the end of April if no financial assistance is available by then.
• The effective liquidity protection of the companies varies completely by nature, but is on average between one and a maximum of three months.
• The first layoffs have already had to be announced, although this is the absolute last measure and brutal emergency solution for all companies.
• 96 percent of the members surveyed have already had to apply for short-time work.
• The foregone gross sales since February 28, 2020 amount to approximately 260 million Swiss francs.
• The gross sales loss expected by the end of May 2020 is approximately 450 million Swiss francs.

In this context, the association welcomes the measure of legal standstill in the debt collection system proclaimed by the Federal Council on March 18, 2020 from March 19 until and including April 4, 2020, the effect of which, however, is rather of a psychological nature. Commendably, the Confederation had very quickly held out the prospect of funds of CHF 8 billion for short-time work and CHF 2 billion for bridging loans.

In contrast to this are the statements or demands of the two ETH professors Hans Gersbach and Jan-Egbert Sturm: A "Swiss fund" of 100 billion francs is to be built up to compensate for the deficits.

"As before, one of the main demands from our side is: We need quick and unbureaucratic measures! And since changes in the law are also pending here, a solution must be found to get them rolling without a session; as can be expected in a crisis situation," says the Even industry association.

Expo Event Swiss LiveCom Association as a solution approach several measures:

• A retroactive application of short-time compensation so that the loss incurred to date can also be claimed.
• Suspension of federal taxes, value-added taxes, and cantonal and municipal taxes without interest on arrears run for the companies.
• Special regulation or suspension of payment of contributions for social insurances / family allowances without negative consequences for the companies.
• Immediate extension of the scope of application for short-time work to:
  • fixed-term contracts
  • temporary employment relationships
  • Business owners
  • Apprentices
  • People who care for their children at home due to school closures
  • Employee Spouse

These demands and the comprehensive situation will again be presented to the federal government and it is hoped that there will be further roundtables with decision-makers in the near future, the statement continues.

As Syndicom writes in its communication, the interim results are alarming and show that there is a massive emergency. More than 1200 self-employed and freelancers have already participated in the survey. Their information shows that the Federal Council supports the self-employed and freelancers in the media industry, visual communication and creative industries like the rest of the economy, otherwise many professional livelihoods would be threatened to break.

Around half of the self-employed no longer have any orders

The interim results of Syndicom's survey, in which more than 1200 self-employed and freelancers participated within 36 hours until this morning, show that already 89% of the order cancellations have been made due to the Corona virus. The financial losses would already amount to at least 90% of an average monthly income for 37% of the respondents. Also, 87% of the participants see more than half of their jobs at immediate risk, and for 50% it is as much as 90-100% of their jobs. Of the more than 1200 self-employed and freelancers, half can only make ends meet for a maximum of one or two months - 10% of the respondents already have no reserves.

Based on this information, Syndicom is calling on the federal government and the cantons to provide direct support to self-employed weavers. The union addressed these concerns directly to the Federal Council on Thursday. According to the union, the support measures planned so far by the federal government would not be effective in their current form for this group of dependent workers and employees and are insufficient.

Current crisis only the tip of the iceberg

Self-employed persons and freelancers are hardly covered by the social insurances in Switzerland. As a result, they belong to a group that is particularly affected economically - even beyond the current crisis. Syndicom's survey shows that these workers have not been able to build up financial reserves in the past due to their fragile and often precarious working status. The existence-threatening condition of the self-employed and freelancers due to the coronavirus pandemic is therefore also an expression of the lack of social security. The union wants to work to improve the working conditions of the self-employed and freelancers, especially with regard to retirement provisions and unemployment.

As many people as possible should pause for 60 seconds and applaud the medical staff on balconies, terraces, in the street or at the windows, as Stefan Heini, head of corporate communications at CH Media, told the Keystone-SDA news agency. Previously 20 minutes and Blick.ch reported about it.

The applause goes to all doctors, nurses, all employees in medical practices, all hospitals in the country and all others who make an "extraordinary effort" in the medical field.

The media houses CH Media, TX Group, Ringier are involved in the campaign, NZZ and the SRG, in order to reach as broad a public as possible. According to Heini, the smaller media are picked up via the association.

Already on Thursday evening at 19 o'clock is to be applauded in Zurich in addition. The "heroes and heroines of today" are all people who work in the health sector, public service, in sales outlets, supermarkets and everywhere where they are now absolutely needed, wrote the portal Tsüri.ch. Their work would hold society together and save lives. This should be appreciated now.

There have already been similar actions in the past few days, namely in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Also in Italy and Spain applauded those people who are in the fight against Covid-19 in action. (SDA)

Last week it became known: The Sechseläuten 2020 has been canceled. The Zurich festival, which was to have taken place on April 20, fell victim to Federal Council regulations banning events with more than 100 people.

Not surprisingly, Publicis is now following suit. Switzerland's largest agency group, which organizes its own festival on Sechseläuten afternoon, is also canceling the event and scrapping it for this year without replacement.

For some months now, the University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons has no longer been part of the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland and now operates independently. This independence brings with it not only a new organization and changed offerings, but also a new image. The former HTW Chur commissioned the Viaduct agency with the challenge of developing this new image.

The new brand identity deliberately creates a link to the origin and the Graubünden brand. The new logo traces traces of the past. The new design has been adapted to all marketing and communication media: from the letterheads to the lettering in and around the UAS Graubünden buildings to digital applications and information documents. The new brand identity is also integrated into the current new marketing campaigns and can be seen on the newly designed Studi beer label.

The motto of the 2019 annual report is "Together We Lead". The company is "in a dynamic growth phase," as it says in the annual report. This upward trend is to be made tangible online and offline by the Hilda design matters concept.

The latest annual report presents Bachem's annual reporting both as a successful conclusion to the past year and as an outlook for the coming year. In the annual report, the strategic topics are set and the goals are staged in a motivating manner.

"For us, an annual report is a strategic communication tool," says Eric Hasler, Key Consultant at Hilda design matters. "With the integrated annual report for Bachem, we set themes, formulate the positioning strategy and look back to the future, so to speak."

The motto of the conference taking place in December remains unchanged: "Brand Experience in Digital Marketing". Tickets sold to date retain their validity for the new date. DEX20 is aimed at all market participants who are active in the field of digital marketing. On the Main Stage, in the Masterclasses and in numerous workshops, the conference is intended to offer both newcomers and experts exciting impulses for the digital future of their companies. A topic that takes on particular urgency in the current difficult phase.

Main Stage speakers already confirmed include Jin Choi from Facebook, Merlin Ouboter from Microlino, Dennis Lück from Jung von Matt/Limmat, Lennart Hintz from Mediacom and Jan König from Odaline.

This corresponds to a market share of 80.7 percent, the highest level since the measurements were introduced in 1985. The audience share also remained at an exceptionally high level in the following days with values between 73.5 and 79.7 percent, as RTS spokeswoman Sophie Balbo told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Thursday.

In German-speaking Switzerland, 1.35 million viewers watched the "Tagesschau" on SRF on Tuesday evening. This corresponds to a market share of 69.3 percent. According to SRF editor-in-chief Tristan Benn, these exceptional figures show the enormous demand for information among the population. (SDA)

The "Columbus" program was aimed in particular at reducing the cost base of the merged activities of AZ Medien and NZZ regional media, as the company announced on Thursday. The individual business areas had developed differently in the difficult market environment.

The publishing division, for example, achieved a "satisfactory" result thanks to synergies, writes the Aargauer Verlag. In the area of electronic media, the Group "tended" to grow and gain market share. The growth was achieved both organically and through the acquisition of the 3-Plus Group in October 2019.

"I am satisfied that we were able to achieve our financial targets in the first full financial year - a year of growing together and upheaval - despite many uncertainties", Group CEO Axel Wüstmann is quoted as saying. (SDA)