The Association of Swiss Free Newspapers is growing

 At its most recent meeting, the Association of Swiss Free Newspapers (VSGZ) admitted eight new members. The association now has 18 members, according to VSGZ President Thomas Akermann. The new members are the Baslerstab, the Berner Bär, the Bündner Anzeiger, the Quartier-Echo (Zurich), the Stadtanzeiger Winterthur, and the Zuger Presse, as well as, in French-speaking Switzerland, the Arc Hébdo and the Courrier Neuchâtelois. According to Akermann, one goal of the strengthened association is to distinguish itself more clearly from commuter newspapers in the future. He explained that market saturation—and, above all, the waste problem caused by commuter newspapers—is increasingly damaging the previously positive image of VSGZ members.
The current VSGZ members, some of whom have been with the association for many years, are the Anzeiger Luzern/Luzerner Woche, Biel-Bienne, the Berner Landbote, the Fridolin (Glarus), the Obersee Nachrichten, the Schaffhauser Bock, the Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich, the Wochenblatt für das Emmental und Entlebuch, as well as GHI (Geneva) and Lausanne Cités in French-speaking Switzerland. Akermann himself is the director of the Anzeiger Luzern/Luzerner Woche.
Markus Knöpfli