The magazine was created out of love for Ticino and to make the canton better known in the rest of Switzerland, explains economist Alessandro Cavadini. Together with the lawyer Filippo Celio, with whom he runs a consultancy firm, and the Ticino publisher Valerio De Giorgi, Cavadini launched "TES - The independent Ticino magazine for Switzerland" this spring. As consultants, Celio and he had repeatedly noticed that the exchange between Ticino and the rest of Switzerland was poor, explains Cavadini. His home canton was also underrepresented in the Swiss-German media. This is how the two came together with the publisher De Giorgi.

TES is a magazine that comes from Ticino - but is published in German and is intended for the whole of Switzerland. Ten times a year, the monthly magazine aims to provide decision-makers from politics, business, culture and society with analyses from the southern canton, highlighting both Swiss and international issues - in particular those relating to the southern neighboring country and the EU region. The magazine positions itself as an independent publication. "We have no political ties, nor is there an unknown investor behind TESMagazine. " There should be room for politicians from all parties, emphasizes Cavadini, whose father was once a liberal National Councillor. "TES wants to be a platform for different opinions." And not only in economic matters, but also politically, culturally and socially.

Critical and solution-oriented

Even if some articles are decidedly business-friendly - when location marketing is pursued, Ticino is praised as a financial center or when individual economic experts have their say - TES certainly aspires to be perceived as a critical voice. For example, the construction of a second Gotthard tunnel is controversially discussed in the October issue. It is important to Cavadini not only to uncover grievances, but also to propose solutions. "Something that many media neglect," says the economist. The magazine project is managed by De Giorgi, Celio and Cavadini, who make up the editorial committee. In this role, they select topics and pass them on to the editors. Journalists from German-speaking Switzerland, Ticino and Italy have been recruited for the project - including Alfonso Tuor, former deputy editor-in-chief of Corriere del Ticino, and Reto Stutzer, who reported from Ticino as a correspondent for Swiss television until June. Guests such as media scientist Stephan Russ-Mohl, head of the European Journalism Observatory at the University of Lugano, will also be writing. Finding competent writers was not so easy, as Cavadini reports. Ideally, the journalists not only have extensive regional knowledge, but can also write in German so that the translation effort is kept to a minimum.

Launched as a private project

The founders dug into their own pockets for the launch. In the longer term, TES is to be financed by advertising and subscriptions. Customers from the tourism industry and companies with a branch in Ticino are targeted as advertisers. With a circulation of between 13,000 and 15,000 copies, TES is available at newsstands throughout Switzerland for a subscription price of 75 francs per year or a single price of 8 francs - initially only in German. However, the three founders can imagine producing the magazine in French in the future. Since the launch in May, around 600 paying subscriptions have been acquired, as Cavadini reveals. The magazine is currently being distributed to readers primarily via promotional distribution, for example in hotels and via gift subscriptions. To publicize the project, articles are also published in loose succession on the online portal Journal21.ch. There are also plans to expand the company's own website Tesmagazine.ch to position it as a discussion platform. At the moment, the website is mainly used as a promotional channel. Older issues are available free of charge as a PDF after requesting a password. TES was launched as a private project. Both structurally and editorially, the magazine is independent of De Giorgi's publishing house Ticino Management, which has been publishing the business magazine of the same name since 1988. According to Cavadini, they are happy to be inspired by new topics. And, of course, the existing contacts are useful. "However, articles are not usually exchanged." Cavadini sees synergy potential in the cultural sector in particular, with the magazine Arte & Storia. After all, the 100 pages of TES need to be filled. Couldn't TES overtax its readership in terms of scope and publication frequency? Cavadini waves it off: "We are aware that our target group is bombarded with media. If someone flicks through the magazine and reads one or two articles, our goal has already been achieved." TES does not want to compete with established titles, but to establish itself as additional reading. "As a magazine that provides a perspective that is largely missing in the Swiss media landscape."

Isabel Imper

The magazine was created out of love for Ticino and to make the canton better known in the rest of Switzerland, explains economist Alessandro Cavadini. Together with the lawyer Filippo Celio, with whom he runs a consultancy firm, and the Ticino publisher Valerio De Giorgi, Cavadini launched "TES - The independent Ticino magazine for Switzerland" this spring. As consultants, Celio and he had repeatedly noticed that the exchange between Ticino and the rest of Switzerland was poor, explains Cavadini. His home canton was also underrepresented in the Swiss-German media. This is how the two came together with the publisher De Giorgi.

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