Confederation wants to enter the 21st century
Press: The economic boom is causing ad revenue to rise again for the struggling federal government. But fears about declining circulation figures have not yet completely dissipated.
Press The economic boom is causing advertising to pick up again at the beleaguered Bund. However, fears of falling circulation have not yet completely disappeared. Things have become quieter around the Bern media center in recent times, after, in the case of the Bund, the question repeatedly arose as to how many more rounds of austerity the editorial team of the Bernese quality paper would survive. This question is known to have tried the patience of long-serving editor-in-chief Hanspeter Spörri. For the time being, the joint production of the sports section of the Bund and Berner Zeitung is the last stage of visible downward movement. Successor Arthur K. Vogel, who has been in office as the new Editor-in-Chief since the beginning of the year, has the great advantage of being able to enter the budget rounds with Espace Media Groupe free of historical burdens.
The general weather situation in the media industry suits him: "The federal government is doing well, the economy is booming and job advertisements are picking up again," says Vogel. He sees the fact that Bern as a media center is hardly making a name for itself as a good omen. He has no news to report on the so-called Bern model, which unites the competitors Bund and Berner Zeitung under the umbrella of Espace Media Groupe. "If everyone sticks to the rules of the game, then it can work," says Vogel. To achieve this, the competitors must clearly differentiate themselves from one another so that readers can choose even more clearly between the two newspapers.
The editor-in-chief is more concerned about the slightly declining circulation of the Bund. On its homepage, the title has a circulation of 58,117 copies. The figure of 55,000 was recently circulated internally, although Vogel estimates that the actual circulation is higher. "We will have to think about this intensively in the current year," he says.
The newcomer, who has a respectable journalistic past (Tages-Anzeiger, Facts, Weltwoche) and has already established himself in the editorial team with articles and commentaries, wants to get his crew to "make a good newspaper". This year, a project group will investigate what this should look like in detail. In any case, the newspaper should become more modern. "We are still too state-oriented and close to the government," says Vogel, on the verge of bringing his paper into the 21st century.
Soon after taking office, he let it be known in the newsroom that newspapers cannot continue to exist without a strong foothold on the Internet. The Confederation's web presence should therefore become more attractive, although the resources are modest, as Vogel notes. A project group with people from the online editorial team is also to become active in this area and examine how the paper and the Internet can be effectively linked. "We need to manage the Internet much more actively," says Vogel. Up to now, the close link between the Bund website "eBund" and the Espace Internet platform has severely restricted the independence of the brand. Vogel therefore wants to decouple the Confederation from Espace.
Another editorial change Vogel has in mind is a kind of newsdesk. However, he prefers to speak of a control center. "Otherwise the editorial team will make a fuss." In a year's time, the Bern model will also be physically implemented when the Bund people move to Dammweg in Bern's Lorraine quarter under the roof of Espace Media Groupe. It will then make sense for the current department heads to do the day-to-day work together. The entire production team with daily managers, department heads and picture editors will then sit at the control center. Doesn't the almost physical proximity of the Bundr editorial team to that of the Berner Zeitung have an aggravating effect? Vogel has no concerns in this case. Moreover, there are no longer any cross-subsidies between the Berner Zeitung and the Bund. In the past, this had repeatedly led to tensions, with the Confederation being suspected of having its deficits financed by the flourishing Berner Zeitung. Espace now charges its customers for services, particularly of a technical nature. "We are charged standard market prices," says Vogel. Nevertheless, these are said to occasionally cause disgruntlement. With a few exceptions, this is not the case; there is just a lot of talking in the newsroom, Vogel waves away. The new editor-in-chief has few concerns about the practicalities of the Bern model for the two titles: "Le Matin and 24 Heures are also in daily competition and use practically the same infrastructure. And that works perfectly."
The bottom has probably been reachedBund and Berner Zeitung, the antipodes of the Bern model, are reportedly doing better than ever. This is according to media spokesman Christopher Wehrli. A positive trend is being observed in the circulations of both titles. This means that the Bernese titles may have already bottomed out. For the 2006/07 period, Espace reported a total circulation (uncertified for technical reasons) of 157,590 copies for the Bund and Berner Zeitung, compared to 166,965 copies in the previous year. Wemf's reach figures for the second half of 2006 will follow in the next issue of Werbewoche.
René Worni
The general weather situation in the media industry suits him: "The federal government is doing well, the economy is booming and job advertisements are picking up again," says Vogel. He sees the fact that Bern as a media center is hardly making a name for itself as a good omen. He has no news to report on the so-called Bern model, which unites the competitors Bund and Berner Zeitung under the umbrella of Espace Media Groupe. "If everyone sticks to the rules of the game, then it can work," says Vogel. To achieve this, the competitors must clearly differentiate themselves from one another so that readers can choose even more clearly between the two newspapers.
The editor-in-chief is more concerned about the slightly declining circulation of the Bund. On its homepage, the title has a circulation of 58,117 copies. The figure of 55,000 was recently circulated internally, although Vogel estimates that the actual circulation is higher. "We will have to think about this intensively in the current year," he says.
The newcomer, who has a respectable journalistic past (Tages-Anzeiger, Facts, Weltwoche) and has already established himself in the editorial team with articles and commentaries, wants to get his crew to "make a good newspaper". This year, a project group will investigate what this should look like in detail. In any case, the newspaper should become more modern. "We are still too state-oriented and close to the government," says Vogel, on the verge of bringing his paper into the 21st century.
Soon after taking office, he let it be known in the newsroom that newspapers cannot continue to exist without a strong foothold on the Internet. The Confederation's web presence should therefore become more attractive, although the resources are modest, as Vogel notes. A project group with people from the online editorial team is also to become active in this area and examine how the paper and the Internet can be effectively linked. "We need to manage the Internet much more actively," says Vogel. Up to now, the close link between the Bund website "eBund" and the Espace Internet platform has severely restricted the independence of the brand. Vogel therefore wants to decouple the Confederation from Espace.
Another editorial change Vogel has in mind is a kind of newsdesk. However, he prefers to speak of a control center. "Otherwise the editorial team will make a fuss." In a year's time, the Bern model will also be physically implemented when the Bund people move to Dammweg in Bern's Lorraine quarter under the roof of Espace Media Groupe. It will then make sense for the current department heads to do the day-to-day work together. The entire production team with daily managers, department heads and picture editors will then sit at the control center. Doesn't the almost physical proximity of the Bundr editorial team to that of the Berner Zeitung have an aggravating effect? Vogel has no concerns in this case. Moreover, there are no longer any cross-subsidies between the Berner Zeitung and the Bund. In the past, this had repeatedly led to tensions, with the Confederation being suspected of having its deficits financed by the flourishing Berner Zeitung. Espace now charges its customers for services, particularly of a technical nature. "We are charged standard market prices," says Vogel. Nevertheless, these are said to occasionally cause disgruntlement. With a few exceptions, this is not the case; there is just a lot of talking in the newsroom, Vogel waves away. The new editor-in-chief has few concerns about the practicalities of the Bern model for the two titles: "Le Matin and 24 Heures are also in daily competition and use practically the same infrastructure. And that works perfectly."
The bottom has probably been reachedBund and Berner Zeitung, the antipodes of the Bern model, are reportedly doing better than ever. This is according to media spokesman Christopher Wehrli. A positive trend is being observed in the circulations of both titles. This means that the Bernese titles may have already bottomed out. For the 2006/07 period, Espace reported a total circulation (uncertified for technical reasons) of 157,590 copies for the Bund and Berner Zeitung, compared to 166,965 copies in the previous year. Wemf's reach figures for the second half of 2006 will follow in the next issue of Werbewoche.
René Worni
