Hanspeter Spörri leaves the "Bund"
Editor-in-Chief Hanspeter Spörri will be leaving *Der Bund*. Until his successor is named, he will continue to perform his current duties for the time being.
Editor-in-chief Hanspeter Spörri is to leave the "Bund". For the time being, he will continue in his current role until a successor has been found. In recent months, the Board of Directors of Bund Verlag AG and the Editor-in-Chief have had differing views on the management and further development of the newspaper. Nevertheless, the separation is by mutual agreement. The Board of Directors expressly thanks Spörri for his commitment to maintaining the high quality of the newspaper under difficult circumstances. No comment was available. On Radio DRS's Regionaljournal, Chairman of the Board of Directors Hans Lauri said that it is not enough for a newspaper "only" to be well positioned journalistically, it must also be able to survive in an economically difficult environment. The "Bund" may also have to be able to cope with further cost-cutting efforts in the future. However, further job cuts are not currently in sight.
Spörri has headed the editorial team since January 2001, during which time he has redesigned the newspaper and championed the publishing cooperation with Espace Media Groupe, the publisher of the Berner Zeitung BZ. This cooperation, which became known as the "Bern model" - two newspapers, each with independent editorial teams under one publishing umbrella - has succeeded in bringing the "Bund" close to the black, enabling the continuation of the traditional quality title and thus preserving a piece of press diversity in Bern, according to the "Bund" press release. Spörri's departure does not jeopardize the "Bern model". The "Bund" posted a deficit of CHF 0.7 million in 2004 and CHF 2 million in 2005. A deficit of CHF 0.2 million is budgeted for the current year, as announced at the Espace Media Groupe's annual media conference on Tuesday.
Spörri has headed the editorial team since January 2001, during which time he has redesigned the newspaper and championed the publishing cooperation with Espace Media Groupe, the publisher of the Berner Zeitung BZ. This cooperation, which became known as the "Bern model" - two newspapers, each with independent editorial teams under one publishing umbrella - has succeeded in bringing the "Bund" close to the black, enabling the continuation of the traditional quality title and thus preserving a piece of press diversity in Bern, according to the "Bund" press release. Spörri's departure does not jeopardize the "Bern model". The "Bund" posted a deficit of CHF 0.7 million in 2004 and CHF 2 million in 2005. A deficit of CHF 0.2 million is budgeted for the current year, as announced at the Espace Media Groupe's annual media conference on Tuesday.
