Observer needs blood stiller
The editorial cutbacks are increasingly eroding the substance of Jean Frey's cash cow
The editorial bloodletting is increasingly costing Jean Frey's cash cow substanceBy Oliver Classen After the second wave of layoffs at the Beobachter, the new editor-in-chief Balz Hosang hopes for an end to the personnel blood toll. And Ringier's Hans Jürg Deutsch hopes that the defectors will be contacted soon.
In his first editorial for the Swiss consumer protection body, Balz Hosang presented himself programmatically in a red sweater and thus as a respectful heir, who also promised to honor and increase the ideal and personal legacy of his predecessor Ivo Bachmann. The ex-TV man must have found his first official act all the more sobering, as it consisted of announcing the next four departures.
After the three resignations at the end of March, when two guarantors of the proverbial independence of the Observer took their hats with Bachmann, last week four more top performers drew their consequences from the new ownership structure of Jean Frey Publishing. "I do not work for the majority of the current shareholders," says deputy editor-in-chief Fredi Lüthin, explaining his "carefully considered" decision. Similar sentiments are heard from the other three fundamentalists, including head of production Thomas Roth and head of department Rahel Stauber.
Hans Jürg Deutsch waits for Bachmann application
Unlike the first defectors who were released, however, Lüthin et al. must fulfill their contract term in full. In this way, Hosang, who by his own admission has received ten inquiries for every vacant position, wants to ensure "a seamless transition into the new era." And he should, since his deputy Lüthin has already observed "the first signs of a vacuum" in the last two issues. Further editorial loss of substance would probably soon be registered by the millions of readers who keep a sharp eye on the Observer, and they would react accordingly. If the subscribers are skeptical, the advertisers are already skeptical.
Such a creeping loss of confidence in the 75-year-old press institution would, of course, be most welcome to Ringier, which wants to have its own consumer magazine ready for presentation by the fall. All ex-observers are also still welcome at Dufourstrasse. According to Ringier spokesman Fridolin Luchsinger, two of them have already come forward - albeit quite profanely with the HR department and not directly with Hans Jürg Deutsch, who was appointed interim project manager by the journalistic committee at Dufourstrasse 23 at the end of April. The appointment of Ringier's TV boss bears all the signs of an embarrassment. It is true that this will ensure a close link between the parallel TV and print plans. However, the actual message of this "personnel provisional arrangement" (Luchsinger) is more reminiscent of a missing persons report and probably reads (German and clear): Bachmann, Lüthin and Roth, please get in touch!
In his first editorial for the Swiss consumer protection body, Balz Hosang presented himself programmatically in a red sweater and thus as a respectful heir, who also promised to honor and increase the ideal and personal legacy of his predecessor Ivo Bachmann. The ex-TV man must have found his first official act all the more sobering, as it consisted of announcing the next four departures.
After the three resignations at the end of March, when two guarantors of the proverbial independence of the Observer took their hats with Bachmann, last week four more top performers drew their consequences from the new ownership structure of Jean Frey Publishing. "I do not work for the majority of the current shareholders," says deputy editor-in-chief Fredi Lüthin, explaining his "carefully considered" decision. Similar sentiments are heard from the other three fundamentalists, including head of production Thomas Roth and head of department Rahel Stauber.
Hans Jürg Deutsch waits for Bachmann application
Unlike the first defectors who were released, however, Lüthin et al. must fulfill their contract term in full. In this way, Hosang, who by his own admission has received ten inquiries for every vacant position, wants to ensure "a seamless transition into the new era." And he should, since his deputy Lüthin has already observed "the first signs of a vacuum" in the last two issues. Further editorial loss of substance would probably soon be registered by the millions of readers who keep a sharp eye on the Observer, and they would react accordingly. If the subscribers are skeptical, the advertisers are already skeptical.
Such a creeping loss of confidence in the 75-year-old press institution would, of course, be most welcome to Ringier, which wants to have its own consumer magazine ready for presentation by the fall. All ex-observers are also still welcome at Dufourstrasse. According to Ringier spokesman Fridolin Luchsinger, two of them have already come forward - albeit quite profanely with the HR department and not directly with Hans Jürg Deutsch, who was appointed interim project manager by the journalistic committee at Dufourstrasse 23 at the end of April. The appointment of Ringier's TV boss bears all the signs of an embarrassment. It is true that this will ensure a close link between the parallel TV and print plans. However, the actual message of this "personnel provisional arrangement" (Luchsinger) is more reminiscent of a missing persons report and probably reads (German and clear): Bachmann, Lüthin and Roth, please get in touch!
