Wanner remains silent
AZ Media Group CEO Leaves Partners in the Dark About Possible Change in Corporate Governance
AZ Media Group boss leaves partners in the dark about possible CR changeThere is unrest in the court of Aargau media czar Peter Wanner because he apparently wants to replace the editor-in-chief of the Aargauer Zeitung (AZ), Hans Fahrländer, with Markus Gisler. Wanner does not deny the rumors. And offends the editorial team, Fahrländer and his fellow publishers from the Mittelland Zeitung association. When Fahrländer took up the post of AZ Editor-in-Chief (CR) in 1998, he declared his intention to remain in office for a maximum of eight years. A month ago, he gave the editorial team a mid-term review: "On to the second term of office" was his battle cry. A few days later, a rumor circulated that publisher Peter Wanner wanted to replace Fahrländer with former Cash editor-in-chief and ex-Moneycab CEO Markus Gisler. Because Wanner was on vacation, Fahrländer and the AZ editorial team were left in the dark for days. On his first working day after his vacation, on October 14, publisher Wanner made a statement: He confirmed "non-binding talks" with Gisler. The latter has "media experience at an operational and strategic level that could be useful to the AZ Media Group", whereby "various options" are conceivable for Gisler's possible involvement, wrote Wanner, who expressly "does not wish to comment further" on the talks.
However, Wanner's communiqué raises more questions than it answers. Fahrländer is not mentioned at all, not to mention a commitment to the incumbent CR. A conversation with Wanner on October 14 does not seem to have clarified anything for the CR. He told WerbeWoche that he did not know at the moment what would happen next, which made working with the editorial team considerably more difficult.
The matter is also causing trouble in the Mittelland Zeitung (MZ) association. This is because the AZ-CR is also the CR of the MZ shell section. The publishers of the Solothurner Zeitung and the Oltner and Zofinger Tagblatt (ZT) therefore also have a say in any change of AZ-CR. "Wanner won't do anything without us," says ZT director Hans Gresch. But Gresch, who was also on vacation last week, first heard about the rumors on October 15 - via WerbeWoche; he hadn't even received Wanner's statement by then. But he was at least able to say this much: up to now, a change of AZ-CR had never been discussed in the MZ publishers' council, which meets roughly every three months.
A disgruntled Rudolf Rentsch, Director of Vogt-Schild/Habegger, was reluctant to comment. "We discuss all important issues in the publishers' council," he simply said. Arthur Tabeling, Director of Oltner Tagblatt, was unavailable due to his vacation. And Markus Gisler, current member of the Board of Directors at Jean Frey AG and Finanzfachmarkt AG, did not return calls by the editorial deadline.
Markus Knöpfli
However, Wanner's communiqué raises more questions than it answers. Fahrländer is not mentioned at all, not to mention a commitment to the incumbent CR. A conversation with Wanner on October 14 does not seem to have clarified anything for the CR. He told WerbeWoche that he did not know at the moment what would happen next, which made working with the editorial team considerably more difficult.
The matter is also causing trouble in the Mittelland Zeitung (MZ) association. This is because the AZ-CR is also the CR of the MZ shell section. The publishers of the Solothurner Zeitung and the Oltner and Zofinger Tagblatt (ZT) therefore also have a say in any change of AZ-CR. "Wanner won't do anything without us," says ZT director Hans Gresch. But Gresch, who was also on vacation last week, first heard about the rumors on October 15 - via WerbeWoche; he hadn't even received Wanner's statement by then. But he was at least able to say this much: up to now, a change of AZ-CR had never been discussed in the MZ publishers' council, which meets roughly every three months.
A disgruntled Rudolf Rentsch, Director of Vogt-Schild/Habegger, was reluctant to comment. "We discuss all important issues in the publishers' council," he simply said. Arthur Tabeling, Director of Oltner Tagblatt, was unavailable due to his vacation. And Markus Gisler, current member of the Board of Directors at Jean Frey AG and Finanzfachmarkt AG, did not return calls by the editorial deadline.
Markus Knöpfli
