Confessed news junkie
Markus Eisenhut, editor-in-chief of 20 Minuten, is among the winners in the abruptly halted competition among free newspapers in the Zurich market.
Markus Eisenhut, editor-in-chief of 20 Minuten, is one of the winners in the abruptly halted competition between free newspapers in Zurich. The editor-in-chief of 20 Minuten had been planning his vacation in Australia in April for some time. But after the surprising demise of Tamedia's rival project Express, Markus Eisenhut can enjoy his vacation all the more. After all, he and his team and the publishing house have ensured that there won't be an expensive material battle for the free newspapers. Even if a certain amount of tension is now gone, the
The self-confessed news junkie Eisenhut can hardly be deterred from regularly calling the newsroom from Australia. Not that he doesn't have confidence in his people, as he describes his deputy as a "lottery joker". But Eisenhut's characteristic impatience always drives him to improve the commuter newspaper.
Even now, without the Express breathing down his neck, Eisenhut still sees many challenges for 20 Minuten. He and his team want to maintain the virtues of flexibility and ambition and attract more readers and advertisers. "We will be the big winners again at Mach 03 this October," Eisenhut is convinced. The fact that Tamedia is now a partner of 20 Minuten does not bother the editor-in-chief at all. After all, the Tagi has not only always been his in-house newspaper; in the course of his career he has already worked at both newspapers on Werdstrasse - Tages-Anzeiger and SonntagsZeitung. His children also attend Tamedia's crèche.
Eisenhut ended up in journalism more by chance than anything else. His dream job was actually to be a surgeon. However, as an active athlete, studying medicine was too time-consuming for him, so he tried studying law and later German. At the beginning of the 1980s, he applied to Swiss television as a presenter for a music program. He didn't get the job, but shortly afterwards he received a letter from Blick, where he was soon working as a sports reporter. This was back in Peter Übersax's day, which proved to be very good training for Eisenhut and also made him resilient. His career led him to become editor-in-chief of 20 Minuten, the newsroom of Schweizer Illustrierte, the sports desk of Tagi and then head of sports at Blick and SonntagsBlick. Eisenhut then became Head of News at SonntagsZeitung and later Deputy Head of Service at Tages-Anzeiger. The thoroughbred journalist did not pass up the opportunity to switch to 20 Minuten.
He saw himself as sufficiently qualified for the job of editor-in-chief: "It's important for me to be challenged, but not overwhelmed." He still sees his future at Pendlerblatt, even if the new ownership situation is still giving rise to speculation (see also page 16). "I still enjoy coming to work every day and don't want to do anything else at the moment." What continues to fascinate him is the actively practiced cross-media approach, which is not found anywhere else in Switzerland in this pronounced form. The whole network is extremely exciting. He also enjoys working with a young, motivated team. The latest product
20 Minuten will publish a nightlife magazine as planned.
The soon-to-be 40-year-old prefers to spend the little free time he has with his daughters Lina and Kaja and his wife, who works as a journalist for SonntagsBlick. Eisenhut says he is an unstressed person. But there are also things that annoy him. For example, the Grönemeyer article in which the wrong picture was used. "When something annoys me, I have to get it out. But then things calm down again," he explains his sometimes impulsive nature. He sees his directness as both a strength and a weakness. In any case, he also shows very clearly when something pleases him.
Going on vacation to Australia after an exciting few weeks: Markus Eisenhut.
Patrick Hediger
The self-confessed news junkie Eisenhut can hardly be deterred from regularly calling the newsroom from Australia. Not that he doesn't have confidence in his people, as he describes his deputy as a "lottery joker". But Eisenhut's characteristic impatience always drives him to improve the commuter newspaper.
Even now, without the Express breathing down his neck, Eisenhut still sees many challenges for 20 Minuten. He and his team want to maintain the virtues of flexibility and ambition and attract more readers and advertisers. "We will be the big winners again at Mach 03 this October," Eisenhut is convinced. The fact that Tamedia is now a partner of 20 Minuten does not bother the editor-in-chief at all. After all, the Tagi has not only always been his in-house newspaper; in the course of his career he has already worked at both newspapers on Werdstrasse - Tages-Anzeiger and SonntagsZeitung. His children also attend Tamedia's crèche.
Eisenhut ended up in journalism more by chance than anything else. His dream job was actually to be a surgeon. However, as an active athlete, studying medicine was too time-consuming for him, so he tried studying law and later German. At the beginning of the 1980s, he applied to Swiss television as a presenter for a music program. He didn't get the job, but shortly afterwards he received a letter from Blick, where he was soon working as a sports reporter. This was back in Peter Übersax's day, which proved to be very good training for Eisenhut and also made him resilient. His career led him to become editor-in-chief of 20 Minuten, the newsroom of Schweizer Illustrierte, the sports desk of Tagi and then head of sports at Blick and SonntagsBlick. Eisenhut then became Head of News at SonntagsZeitung and later Deputy Head of Service at Tages-Anzeiger. The thoroughbred journalist did not pass up the opportunity to switch to 20 Minuten.
He saw himself as sufficiently qualified for the job of editor-in-chief: "It's important for me to be challenged, but not overwhelmed." He still sees his future at Pendlerblatt, even if the new ownership situation is still giving rise to speculation (see also page 16). "I still enjoy coming to work every day and don't want to do anything else at the moment." What continues to fascinate him is the actively practiced cross-media approach, which is not found anywhere else in Switzerland in this pronounced form. The whole network is extremely exciting. He also enjoys working with a young, motivated team. The latest product
20 Minuten will publish a nightlife magazine as planned.
The soon-to-be 40-year-old prefers to spend the little free time he has with his daughters Lina and Kaja and his wife, who works as a journalist for SonntagsBlick. Eisenhut says he is an unstressed person. But there are also things that annoy him. For example, the Grönemeyer article in which the wrong picture was used. "When something annoys me, I have to get it out. But then things calm down again," he explains his sometimes impulsive nature. He sees his directness as both a strength and a weakness. In any case, he also shows very clearly when something pleases him.
Going on vacation to Australia after an exciting few weeks: Markus Eisenhut.
Patrick Hediger
