Convergence: Displeasure on the Tagi Editorial Board

"We want to do our job" is the title of the five-page protest letter, the first page of which was published on Twitter on Thursday. The mood on the editorial staff is often depressed or irritated, some complain about a workload "far beyond the correct measure". But the editorial team is not fundamentally opposed to convergence: the letter calls the merger "a good thing." Convergence brought colleagues together, but it did not convey a sense of departure, it said. 121 print and online journalists, picture department staff and proofreaders signed the letter of protest, according to an inquiry with the editorial office. The letter was written by the so-called "Group 200" from the editorial department.

Two working groups established

The letter of protest was handed over to the editor-in-chief on Wednesday. The editor-in-chief wants to take the letter seriously, as Tages-Anzeiger editor-in-chief Res Strehle confirmed on Thursday in response to a question from the news agency SDA, according to reports from Persoenlich.com and Südostschweiz. The editor-in-chief had known that convergence would be a difficult process with a lot of new things. The editors-in-chief now want to see how the positions with high workloads can be relieved. Two working groups have been set up for this purpose. According to Strehle, however, there is usually a good atmosphere in the day-to-day editorial work. According to Strehle, the goal is for the merged editorial team to be well positioned by spring 2014. Then Tamedia wants to introduce a payment model on the news portals Tages-Anzeiger and Der Bund.

Imprint and Syndicom welcome the initiative

Imprint welcomes the Tagi editorial team's initiative in a statement issued on Thursday. The journalists' association criticizes, among other things, that the editorial office has to take on more and more tasks without being equipped with the appropriate staff. The model that much more can be done with the same number of resources thanks to convergence and cooperation only works out on the drawing board the way Tamedia's management would like it to. It was time for the management to admit that more could not be done with less. This must also be made clear to the main shareholders. Tamedia must finally draw the consequences from this - also with regard to the return targets.

In a press release, the Syndicom union also expressed its satisfaction with the initiative. With this, a large part of the editorial staff is committed to improving the working conditions, the processes, the orientation and the quality of the publications for which they work with heart and soul, with well-founded criticism and serious suggestions. Syndicom sees the traces of Tamedia's cost-cutting policy in the situation criticized by the editorial staff and hopes that the employees' concerns will be listened to by Tamedia's owners. Syndicom assures the editorial staff of its support in achieving its goals, because working conditions and quality should not be subordinated to the profit targets of the shareholders. (SDA/PD/hae)

The letter in full length: (Source: Imprint, also under this link (PDF))