"Basel needs a regional newspaper"

In 1976, the Basel media world shook: Basler Nachrichten and National-Zeitung merged to form Basler Zeitung - a shock for the interested public and the media scene in Switzerland that continues to have an impact to the present day. Despite years of criticism from the right and the left, the paper was successful. Walter Rüegg and his team of authors from the Seminar for Media Studies at the University of Basel - Christina Klausener, Rahel Walser and Dominic Wirz - take the "Basler Fusion" as the starting point for their book, take a look at the history of the two predecessor newspapers and document the "tragedy" whose final catastrophe they identify in the 2010 sale. What follows is a "comedy" about influence, power and monopolies, and it is far from over.

Rise and fall

In the nineties, the purchase of a publishing house with a printing plant allowed the group to grow rapidly, but numerous other holdings soon became a handicap. Recession and newspaper crisis left their mark, Basler Zeitung Medien was stricken, the company was sold to a bank in 2010 and has since belonged to a holding company with changing owners. Since then, questions that are crucial for a media company have remained unanswered: What is the backer up to? Is the paper to be instrumentalized for political causes? "Challenged" tells the eventful story of a solid family business that was endangered by excessive expansion and ultimately became the plaything of political interests.

"An educational play with great drama".

Together with the three young media scientists who completed their master's degree at the University of Basel this year, author Rüegg developed the project two years ago in collaboration with the Institute for Media Studies. He has been a lecturer in Basel for three years - but Rüegg has been dealing with the subject of the book for a long time: "As a former publisher of the Basler Zeitung and radio director of SR DRS in Basel, I have witnessed and followed the development of the Baz for many years. It is interesting because entrepreneurial decisions - or rather wrong decisions - and the structural crisis of the press overlap in an ominous way," he tells Werbewoche.ch. The motivation to write a book about the newspaper, however, has deeper roots: "The story of the Baz is a lesson with great drama. That speaks for the choice of this 'object of investigation'. But also the fact that the media company is based in the university city of Basel and its fate must concern the citizens of this city." With the exception of Christian Mensch's brief account, he said, no comprehensive account of the history of the Basler Zeitung exists. In addition, the Institute for Media Studies was interested in these specific issues on its own doorstep, Rüegg said.

No future forecast

When asked about the future of the Basler Zeitung, Rüegg does not dare make any predictions. He would like Basel to have a newspaper that is appreciated and respected by the majority of the population. "Basel needs a regional newspaper. Whether that will be the Baz in the future is open." However, Rüegg doubts that the Baz, as a "conservative-tinged daily newspaper," can gain a national appeal. Even if that would certainly be desirable from Christoph Blocher's point of view, he adds. But it is too controversial and weakened in its home market - and it would also require "quite a lot of money.

Satisfied with the result

Rüegg is satisfied with the book. What makes the work interesting is not only the well-founded and careful presentation of the newspaper's history, but also that of the entire company, which began before the merger. "The decline, documented with facts and figures, and its (background) reasons - none of that was available before," Rüegg told Werbewoche.ch. In addition, the diverse view of the Baz by the ten guest authors - including all four still living editors-in-chief - would complete the research of the team of authors.

Thomas Häusermann

Teaser image: Keystone