Spiked: NZZaS - first the shock, then the disappointment

I come back from a wonderful trip to Venice and the big shock is waiting in my letterbox: no, no back taxes, no fine, no notice of termination. But my beloved NZZ am Sonntag (NZZaS) with a disfigured face. Oh dear! The paper is now promoting itself as "NGZaS - Neue Gesellschafts- Zeitung am Sonntag". And advertises it with a woman in a jogging suit and headscarf standing around in the water, an indefinable fish creature and other subjects where the connection to the message is sought in vain. A big "Huh?" slips onto my tongue. And tears well up in my eyes. Because I see a loud, cheap typeface that is harder to read than the old NZZaS font. And a society bundle that looks like a 20-minute issue in tabloid format: "Take me on the bus and leave me there after three stops." What's that all about? I'm canceling my subscription!

Good things stay the same

Take a deep breath! Calm down! As a media journo under 40, I should approach innovations with an open mind. So let's take a closer look: The big shock is now followed by the big disappointment: the typography (used for the first time worldwide - the reader wonders why ...) and the structure of many pages make reading difficult. This may be okay for online, but the print version is moving closer to the tabloid, closer to the daily newspaper. Not nice, but you'll get used to it.

But what's the point? Because the content hasn't changed much. Fortunately - or unfortunately? Fortunately, I find the reports by Christoph Zürcher, the commentaries by Beat Kappeler, fortunately, as always, reliably well-founded politics and economics. Fortunately also the colorful marriage reports, my weekly dose of voyeurism. And, nicely, "Background" has been expanded. Unfortunately, however, the "new" NGZaS offers nothing really new. Well, they have come up with a few small containers. But they are more about design than content. More people are allowed to express their opinions, which is not necessarily a gain, depending on who is granted this right. There are more puzzles than before. That pleases s'Grosi. Since the quiet departure of Jeroen von Roijen, the accompanying style magazine has been strangely flabby and lacking in spice. Unfortunately, the relaunch hasn't made up for anything here.

But above all: What message does it convey when a newly appointed society newspaper makes the society section "small" and tabloid-like? Tendency: downwards. I would have found it more appropriate to retain the format and develop surprising content that could easily keep up with the esteemed NZZaS quality. A newspaper is not a magazine. And if you take it or some of its bundles with you everywhere, it has nothing to do with the format. It has to do with the content.

Divorce hurts

And now what? Cancel the subscription or not? The only thing that's really new is the face of the NZZaS. But that no longer reassures me, it suddenly disappoints me. Because in return for making the effort to get used to the new, less elegant look, I would have expected a few exciting contents, sections or containers that are not available anywhere else. On the other hand, you don't immediately get divorced when your partner comes along with a new hairstyle. If he still behaves decently otherwise. But if you cheat on me again, dear NZZaS, then we're through!