Christof Gertsch is "Journalist of the Year

The "Journalist of the Year" in Switzerland is Christof Gertsch. The reporter from the Magazine was selected in the election of the industry magazine Swiss journalist:in was voted into first place. In second place is Bigna Silberschmidt (SRF), third is Sacha Batthyany (NZZ on Sunday).

Christof Gertsch was already writing about sports at the age of 15. But he was hardly interested in the big, popular disciplines; his passion has always been the sideshows and fringe sports. Today, Gertsch no longer sees himself as a sports journalist. The 40-year-old is now considered one of the best reporters in the country. In an interview with the Swiss journalist:in Gertsch tells how he had to fight for space for his stories in his early days. When switching from the NZZ on Sunday to Magazine he initially felt completely overwhelmed. His journalistic work is impressive. It includes years of research for sensational reports and portraits, such as the "Magglingen Protocols," a portrait of Martina Hingis or, most recently, a story about an Antarctic glacier whose imminent collapse could have an impact on the entire climate development.

The participation in this election was enormous. 1,169 votes were cast and almost 1,500 comments were written. The scoring was determined in a point system. Each participant could award points between 0 and 10. The jury, which had previously drawn up the shortlist, included 50 media journalists, award winners from previous years, and media managers of the year.

The categories at a glance:

• Journalist of the Year: Christof Gertsch, The magazine
• Editor of the Year: WOZ (Florian Keller, Silvia Süess, Kaspar Surber)
• Reporter of the Year: Luzia Tschirky, SRF
• Political Journalist of the Year: Sandro Brotz, SRF
• Business Journalist of the Year: Patrizia Laeri, elleXX
• Investigative Journalist of the Year: Fabian Eberhard, SonntagsBlick
• Society Journalist of the Year: Daniel Ryser, Republic
• Sports Journalist of the Year: Christof Gertsch, The magazine
• Columnist of the Year: Patty Basler, NZZ on Sunday
• Cultural Journalist of the Year: Simone Meier, Watson
• Local Journalist of the Year: Liliane Minor, Tages-Anzeiger
• Photographer of the Year: Alessandro della Valle, Keystone-SDA
• Audio: Laura Bachmann, Mirja Gabathuler, Vivienne Kuster, Philipp Loser, Tages-Anzeiger (Podcast Speaking of)
• Video Journalist of the Year, Benno Kälin, TeleZüri
• Newcomer of the Year: Karin A. Wenger, freelance journalist

Gisela "Gila" Blau receives the award for her life's work: The 80-year-old impresses with her journalistic passion, diversity in topics and formats, and constant commitment. She worked for many years at the Swiss Illustrated, then among other things at the View, the Handelszeitung and with Focus.

The also by the editorship of the Swiss journalist:in special prize goes to Martina Fehr. She has only been head of the MAZ since 2020, but has developed the school of journalism with commitment and speed in this short time and is now one of the weighty voices in the Swiss media industry.

The award ceremony will take place on March 13 at the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich. (sda)