Basler Zeitung: Over 1,000 subscription cancellations

According to several journalists, this was said by Roland Steffen, the head of the publishing house, to the editorial staff on Thursday, as the Sunday newspaper writes in its current issue. Again and again, he said, angry readers came forward and canceled their subscription to the newspaper.

In an interview with Sonntagsblick, Baz editor-in-chief Markus Somm also speaks of "over 1,000 cancellations. That is brutal, he says. He wants to win back every lost subscriber. That will be very difficult - he can understand why subscribers feel they have been had. In the Saturday edition of Baz, he had already described it as a mistake that Christoph Blocher had not openly explained his commitment to the newspaper. Somm wrote that many people would never forgive him for giving misleading answers when asked about this.

"Witch Hunt" against Blocher

In addition, around 500 people demonstrated in Basel on Saturday against the owners of the Basler Zeitung. According to the newspaper Der Sonntag, they followed a call by the organization "Rettet Basel" and left-green circles. The Baz is no longer a Basel newspaper, but a political project of Zurichers, criticized SP National Councilor Beat Jans. "We would rather have a Basel newspaper owned by a Zurich publisher than one owned by a Zurich politician."

Christoph Blocher comments on the "Baz case" in the Sonntagszeitung. The end justified the means, he says. His aim was to prevent the newspaper, one of the few remaining independent newspapers, from being absorbed into one of the major publishing houses. He did everything he could without buying the paper himself. If he had bought the newspaper, things would have really started to go wrong, said the former Federal Councilor. Blocher spoke of an "actual witch hunt" that reminded him of bad times: "Don't buy from Blocher."

Tettamanti on the role of Blocher

In an interview with Sonntag, Tito Tettamanti comments on the role of Christoph Blocher. The SVP politician has no shares in Baz, but is liable for the debts. He needs Blocher's guarantee, says the Ticino financier. Because he does not want to assume the risk for the printing house. According to Tettamanti, the new holding company also wants to mobilize against the "left-leaning SRG". Thanks to preferred shares, Tettamanti controls just under 54 percent of the votes with only 19 percent of the share capital.

> Blocher finances Baz
> Baz: Moritz Suter sells all shares to Rahel Blocher
> Medienvielfalt Holding takes over 100 percent of Baz