Basel Today
Guest commentary The new Basler Zeitung has a perfectly acceptable layout, but with pitiful content, says Jürg Altwegg.
Guest commentary The new Basler Zeitung has a perfectly acceptable layout, but with pitiful content, says Jürg Altwegg.
Was all the resistance in vain? Basel personalities have protested several times against the cultural cutbacks in "their" newspaper and the discontinuation of the magazine. Now the new "baz" is here. "And it is," writes its editor-in-chief Ivo Bachmann in an effort to convince not only the critics but also himself, "look, it's still a newspaper." The fact that the protests met with a broad response far beyond Basel has to do with the uniqueness of the event and the importance of the newspaper. Compared to much larger regional newspapers, the Basler Zeitung was not provincial. The feuilleton and magazine were held in high esteem throughout the German-speaking world, and in some cases were revered like a cult.
"Those who remain stuck in the past will perish," says publisher Matthias Hagemann, explaining the new concept. This reflects the shock of recent years. A 50 percent drop in advertising revenue, new competitors, catastrophic "framework conditions": SRG gets one billion francs, the press is deprived of 500 million. Switzerland is pursuing a policy "against the reading media" and for the "illiterate media".
Does the Basler Zeitung have to become one in order to survive? Lots of purple and lots of air, colorful photos, infographics, penetrating "reader guidance": Compared to the BaZ, the baz opens up a brave new world. Unfortunately, the texts are bumpier than the layout. There is no longer a feature section, but there is a culture magazine. They started with Madonna of all people! And the first - daily? - cultural reportage is dedicated to the bridges of Basel. This magazine is not about cultural criticism, but about lifestyle in the area of cultural consumption - with a philosopher as an advisor. DVDs and CDs are as important as books. Finally, the whole thing flows seamlessly into the television and nightlife program: Basel Today. Daily Züri-Tip.
The imprint lists five "authors". Two of them are the last two feature editors. Their names are printed in italics. This means "permanent editorial collaboration". More precisely: they are allowed to write, but have nothing to say. Others have an asterisk by their name: "*=member of extended editorial board". And there are other bizarre features in this paper: above small ads in the text it says - wonderfully old-fashioned - "advertising section".
Finally, for the premiere, the obligatory survey about life in the region, page title: "Hobbies and work are uplifting, politics are frustrating". This almost sounds like the program of a newspaper that - as its editor-in-chief constantly emphasizes - wants to listen to its readers. (You can grade the articles on the Internet!) Life in and around Basel is better than the national average. Headline on the next page: "One fifth are even super happy." After living, reading is now even more super. Perhaps the new baz really is the newspaper that Basel needs. We can only wish it for Hagemann and the non-illiterate population.
However, no one outside Basel will have to read them.
> Jürg Altwegg is a cultural and
FaZ media correspondent for Switzerland and France.
Was all the resistance in vain? Basel personalities have protested several times against the cultural cutbacks in "their" newspaper and the discontinuation of the magazine. Now the new "baz" is here. "And it is," writes its editor-in-chief Ivo Bachmann in an effort to convince not only the critics but also himself, "look, it's still a newspaper." The fact that the protests met with a broad response far beyond Basel has to do with the uniqueness of the event and the importance of the newspaper. Compared to much larger regional newspapers, the Basler Zeitung was not provincial. The feuilleton and magazine were held in high esteem throughout the German-speaking world, and in some cases were revered like a cult.
"Those who remain stuck in the past will perish," says publisher Matthias Hagemann, explaining the new concept. This reflects the shock of recent years. A 50 percent drop in advertising revenue, new competitors, catastrophic "framework conditions": SRG gets one billion francs, the press is deprived of 500 million. Switzerland is pursuing a policy "against the reading media" and for the "illiterate media".
Does the Basler Zeitung have to become one in order to survive? Lots of purple and lots of air, colorful photos, infographics, penetrating "reader guidance": Compared to the BaZ, the baz opens up a brave new world. Unfortunately, the texts are bumpier than the layout. There is no longer a feature section, but there is a culture magazine. They started with Madonna of all people! And the first - daily? - cultural reportage is dedicated to the bridges of Basel. This magazine is not about cultural criticism, but about lifestyle in the area of cultural consumption - with a philosopher as an advisor. DVDs and CDs are as important as books. Finally, the whole thing flows seamlessly into the television and nightlife program: Basel Today. Daily Züri-Tip.
The imprint lists five "authors". Two of them are the last two feature editors. Their names are printed in italics. This means "permanent editorial collaboration". More precisely: they are allowed to write, but have nothing to say. Others have an asterisk by their name: "*=member of extended editorial board". And there are other bizarre features in this paper: above small ads in the text it says - wonderfully old-fashioned - "advertising section".
Finally, for the premiere, the obligatory survey about life in the region, page title: "Hobbies and work are uplifting, politics are frustrating". This almost sounds like the program of a newspaper that - as its editor-in-chief constantly emphasizes - wants to listen to its readers. (You can grade the articles on the Internet!) Life in and around Basel is better than the national average. Headline on the next page: "One fifth are even super happy." After living, reading is now even more super. Perhaps the new baz really is the newspaper that Basel needs. We can only wish it for Hagemann and the non-illiterate population.
However, no one outside Basel will have to read them.
> Jürg Altwegg is a cultural and
FaZ media correspondent for Switzerland and France.
