Politically correct
René Worni on the Indian media landscape.
René Worni on the Mostindian press landscape. Almost exactly one year ago, the bidding process for the Thurgauer Zeitung (TZ) between the two competitors from Zurich, NZZ Group and Tamedia, was decided in favor of Tamedia. The NZZ was bitterly disappointed by the sudden greed for money of the TZ shareholders, who simply sold their paper to the highest bidder. The NZZ managers had already developed advanced models of how their St. Galler Tagblatt could cooperate with the Thurgauer Zeitung. And the Thurgau government would also have preferred to see its house paper in the NZZ environment rather than with Mr. Coninx and Mr. Kall. This is because the publishing house, which at least in the past was considered to have a tendency toward left-wing liberalism, does not really fit into the picture. This requires a tentative approach from Tamedia, which otherwise tends to expand rather relentlessly. Preserving the journalistic independence of the Thurgauer Zeitung as a governmental identification paper is therefore the top priority.
Now the cooperation plans between TZ and St. Galler Tagblatt are nevertheless to come true. But the expected synergy gain is not equally great on both sides. The St. Galler Tagblatt is withdrawing from its six-year offensive against the strongly anchored TZ and cutting about ten jobs. TZ is also cutting editorial resources. Instead, both papers are filling each other's gaps with articles from their core areas.
But is the cooperation purely a matter between the two regional newspapers, as people in Zurich are trying to insinuate? From a journalistic point of view, hardly anything will change, but from an accounting point of view, it will. Tamedia needs favorable solutions for TZ. Coninx is said to have bought TZ for an expensive 60 million, which he cannot refinance with the paper alone.
Cooperation between the TZ and the neighboring Zürcher Landbote is therefore imperative. But before that happens, peace is needed in Thurgau. The cooperation between TZ and St. Galler Tagblatt is therefore nothing more than a - politically correct - non-aggression pact.
René Worni, Editor
Now the cooperation plans between TZ and St. Galler Tagblatt are nevertheless to come true. But the expected synergy gain is not equally great on both sides. The St. Galler Tagblatt is withdrawing from its six-year offensive against the strongly anchored TZ and cutting about ten jobs. TZ is also cutting editorial resources. Instead, both papers are filling each other's gaps with articles from their core areas.
But is the cooperation purely a matter between the two regional newspapers, as people in Zurich are trying to insinuate? From a journalistic point of view, hardly anything will change, but from an accounting point of view, it will. Tamedia needs favorable solutions for TZ. Coninx is said to have bought TZ for an expensive 60 million, which he cannot refinance with the paper alone.
Cooperation between the TZ and the neighboring Zürcher Landbote is therefore imperative. But before that happens, peace is needed in Thurgau. The cooperation between TZ and St. Galler Tagblatt is therefore nothing more than a - politically correct - non-aggression pact.
René Worni, Editor
