"The days of epic commercial breaks with no entertainment value are over"

Since its launch as a commuter newspaper at the end of 1999, the 20 minutes has developed into the widest-reach Swiss media title with a presence in German-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino. 20 minutes recognized early on how important digital channels would become and was, for example, the first Swiss medium to have a mobile news app.

Mobile traffic now accounts for around 80 percent of page impressions. The company also focused on moving images at an early stage and has continuously expanded the corresponding teams and formats. The company is proud of its youngest child, the video news format "20 Minuten Now!", which was launched at the end of 2020.

m&kMr. Looser, how is the free medium 20 minutes in Corona times? 

Gaudenz Looser: As a purely advertising-financed commuter medium, the second Corona wave is again hitting us hard. In January 2021, we have sold just under 80 percent of the previous year's circulation. The situation is thus much better than in the first lockdown, where we hit rock bottom in April 2020 with just over 60 percent of regular circulation.

What are the challenges to be overcome?

We are currently facing various challenges. On the one hand, advertising is slumping because events are cancelled or stores are closed. On the other hand, advertisers are always reluctant to spend in times of crisis. And there is a great need for explanation among our customers, most of whom are in their home offices, unlike most of our readers themselves. They usually find it remarkable that we can still sell around 80 percent of our normal circulation despite the shutdown. This is also made possible by 150 additional newspaper boxes in retail outlets that we have set up since the first lockdown, so that we are where our readers are. We are grateful that the major retailers, among others, have remained loyal to us during this shutdown and, of course, for the enormously high numbers of online users, whose commercialization is going well.

Does the focus on video meet the needs of the target group?

With our news video team under Silvana Guanziroli, we are very close to what I envision when it comes to depicting current events with moving images. The team is journalistically very independent and expands the content spectrum from 20 minutes ideal. Their VJs work hard and that pays off in a very attractive program that goes down well with the audience. At the same time, our non-news formats from the Story, OneLove and Video Formats departments have become real trademarks, depicting the social and emotional aspects of our lives together in a very contemporary and young form. I'm very happy with our program, which does almost entirely without talking heads, but convinces with content.

What will the consumption of relevant news of the future look like?

Mobile video has just been invented as the medium of the future. From the user's point of view, it has the advantage that it can be consumed passively and in every conceivable situation. Many consumers, especially young ones, appreciate this. However, due to its linearity, video is still a prison for users today: the viewer needs patience and a willingness to take risks in order to press that play button. Rewind and skip functions are still cumbersome, and you never know if you're about to miss what you're looking for. That's why there's huge potential in user experience optimization, interactivity, and new forms of storytelling that are even more focused on convenience. We have an audience that has enormous demands for immediate and precise fulfillment of their momentary needs. Unfortunately, however, the arrogance of the former TV gatekeepers still dominates in the advertising industry and also among a considerable portion of content creators. In many places, there is still the unconscious misconception that viewers can't click away instantly if you steal their time - for example, with an unskippable, 30-second, stinkingly boring commercial in landscape format that can only be displayed tiny on a cell phone. But the days when epic commercial breaks could be inserted with impunity without at least some strong entertainment or information value of their own are over.

How do you plan to change that?

Together with advertisers, we want to create a moving image world that is so precisely tailored to viewers' needs in terms of content and UX that every second spent on it is worthwhile from the user's point of view. Where this is not possible across the board, we have to offer individualized options. If we then combine this with a universe of possible playback media, from the bathroom mirror to the out-of-home screen at the gas station, then we deliver 20 minutes In the end, every user gets exactly the news he or she wants - and then, where, on which medium and in which narrative form he or she wants it.

How do you maneuver your brand through the wild waters of media change?

Our role as a facilitator of reliability and normality with an unbiased view has become more important than ever. On the one hand, so many supposedly unshakable certainties have fallen or at least been called into question, especially in the last twelve months, that many people no longer know what they can and cannot rely on. Facts need to be presented to them to remind them of normality. On the other hand, society has deliberately atomized itself into interest groups that ultimately put forward and demand their sometimes very justified concerns. The task here is to translate between the bubbles - without weighing the various concerns against each other, but with the honest will to reach an understanding.

Everyone is talking about social responsibility. How does 20 minutes and which values are at the top of the purpose list?

Since last fall, we have been publishing service boxes for articles on topics such as stalking, eating disorders, bullying, homelessness or racism, which refer to support services for people affected. We do this simply because it benefits our readers. Since December, the 20 Minutes editorial team in German-speaking Switzerland has also been assisted by the Social Responsibility Board, probably the first medium in Europe to have a committee of 17 employees that develops guidelines for non-injurious journalism and implements them together with the editorial team. The background to this is, on the one hand, an increasingly value-sensitive audience. Sexist or racist thought patterns and framings, no matter how unconscious or well-intentioned they may be, are simply no longer necessary, especially for the young target group. That's over, and recognizing that is a business imperative.

How does the board proceed?

Because these topics are extremely dynamic and we have all age and social groups represented in the editorial team, the board helps us identify the sensitive issues and work with the editorial team to find solutions that don't compromise our political neutrality or the appeal of our content. The project has got off to a very good start. At this point, we would like to thank the two leaders Zora Schaad and Remo Schraner and all members for their great commitment!

How do you shape your own media consumption to ensure diversity of opinion?

I follow just under 3,500 people on Twitter, including not only many "mainstream opinion leaders," but also Islamists, libertarians, and left-wing extremists, as well as those who feel called upon to explain the world from a politically undefined perspective. This gives me a daily overview of the current mood, even if it is much more often unsavory than funny. I get more pleasure from monitoring the news on all the world's major news media via smartphone. To understand the news, I listen to Deutschlandfunk, for industry news I browse LinkedIn, Zackbum and Persoenlich, to get angry I read Medienwoche or Sonntagspresse, to relax I look at Imgur or Tiktok. And on Netflix & Co I'm currently watching Lupin, The Expanse and Mandalorian.

Twitter, Insta, Facebook, TikTok and Clubhouse - what's coming, what's staying, what needs to change?

Twitter is a dark place where people constantly betray the values they claim to defend. The vast majority of participants lack respect, decency, humility and, above all, a willingness to talk. My prediction: Twitter will remain a marginal phenomenon in Switzerland for journalists, politicians and activists, but above all for adults, even though I believe I have recently observed a certain dynamization.

Insta is still "the shit" and therefore important. Our target group is there, and we would do well to pick them up there with attractive offers. At the same time, however, today's 13-year-olds don't give a damn about Instagram. That's why Instagram will age with its current users, just like Facebook.

With Tiktok and its emphatically unserious focus and Clubhouse, which at least forces self-expression to a different level, two radical antitheses to the previous portals are at the start, which give hope for new forms of digital exchange.

Does Clubhouse have a future?

I've only been on Clubhouse for a short time myself, because I first had to take my old iPhone away from my son to get on it. But I've really enjoyed the pioneering work that our social media team and editorial team have done. To me, the app feels perfect for now: We're sitting at home, we're lacking social contacts - so an app that relieves us, at least on a visual level, of the bravado that's otherwise inherent in the system comes in handy. But it also seems to me to be very adult, even though individual young scenes are establishing themselves quite strongly on Clubhouse. In short: It's too early for a binding forecast, but we will certainly continue to experiment.

What can media do to help young people form their own opinions?

In my patchwork family, I have insight into the lives of a 20-year-old, three 13-year-olds and a four-year-old. What they all have in common is that they have very clear ethical ideas and demands. With the exception of the four-year-old, these are the slogans from Fridays for Future to #metoo to BLM and LGBTQ - it's something like common sense and non-negotiable. When it comes to social media and media in general, 13-year-olds are surprisingly confident and enlightened in some cases, but in others they are as naive and gullible as might be expected. They can form their own opinions if we succeed in introducing them not only to the facts, but also to the emotional components of important topics in a way that is interesting for them.

What would you have become if you hadn't been drawn to journalism?

I wanted to become, in this order, a farmer, a bushwhacker, a marine scientist, a veterinarian, a writer and a lawyer. Outside the media, I worked as a forestry assistant, waiter, construction worker and aid worker. But it's shown time and time again: Journalism is definitely the thing that comes easiest to me.

Can you be offline? 

No. It happens very rarely that after about five days of vacation I shut down and enter a state of deep rest, where my greatest happiness is watching some ants, beetles or bees, or tasting a fine Italian salami with white bread down to the last papilla of my tongue. But after seven days at the latest, I miss the adrenaline, and then I want to go home. But I have my regular Zen moments in my insect garden or in my favorite café, which I miss terribly at the moment.