Grade six for quality

Press proposal from the
French-speaking Switzerland: Press products should not only be quantitative, but also
be evaluated qualitatively. "We need a qualitative evaluation
the press," says Dominique Flaux. For the former Head of Marketing at the
Journal de Genève, the press is at the crossroads: "The publishers
are now only guided by circulation and reach figures. This means that
They are cutting off the branch they are sitting on."
Dominique Flaux, 52, actually comes from the field of education - but
He was a trained educator. But life led him to the
publishing, today he is deputy director of the publishing group
Quorum, which publishes magazines such as Banque & Finance, L'Année Horlogère Suisse
or Elle. His time at the daily newspaper Le
Journal de Genève. He
had almost brought the newspaper back to life after turbulent years.
in the black when shareholders dumped the stock
and agreed to the merger with the Edipresse newspaper Le Nouveau Quotidien,
which ultimately gave rise to Le Temps. "The venerable title
Journal de Genève was thrown on the dung heap. The famous brand
was nonsense from an economic and journalistic point of view!",
Flaux is still annoyed today.

To date, many Genevans have missed the
Geneva her Journal de Genève, a reference for
reliable economic and financial information. Dominique Flaux has
lessons learned: "At the Journal de Genève, we have learned
qualitative market studies." The result was clear: "A
Advertising in a credible newspaper is more profitable than in a title
with questionable journalistic qualities." The advertisers would have to
so have every interest in data that they can obtain about the quality of the
Press
informed. And the publishers? "They are on the wrong track if
they are throwing quality overboard under the pressure of the advertising crisis, because
This means they first lose credibility, then readers and
and advertising, after all." Dominique Flaux makes a proposal
for discussion. The keyword
is: Qualitative evaluation of the press. How is that supposed to work?
All professional BR journalists provide information on a secure
website to give their opinion on titles or categories for which they
are demonstrably knowledgeable. This grading concerns several criteria,
journalistic interest, for example, which is reflected in the number of exclusive
articles or the quality of the analyses. Continue the
Reliability of the information, measurable by the degree of verification
the information, independence from advertisers, the
Distinction between editorial and publishing.

The editorial
Quality is also graded, for example the style, the
Clarity of the statement and the originality of the photos. Even the
Marketing is assessed: criteria such as the relationship between
price and performance, the balance between content and advertising or
the adaptation of content to the target audience are examined. "The
The grade submitted remains secret, but who receives a grade for which
assessment is made public. This will
prevents abuses," explains Flaux. The assessment is then
by a company specializing in opinion polls (Erasmus
or MIS Trend) are scientifically evaluated and converted into useful
data is processed. This "credibility index" is then used by the
media are published and commented on in the same way as the respective
latest Wemf data, to which they provide a supplement.
represent. With the difference that those advertisers who primarily
include qualitative criteria in their planning, a kind of
quality label, and that the institutional advertisers could
(municipalities, parties, institutions, etc.) through mediatic pressure
could be obliged to observe these criteria. Carried
the project from
of a foundation whose specifications are defined by partners, such as the
professional journalistic organizations or the Press Council
will.
"We need around 200,000 francs for the Internet platform and for the
Development of the analytical method. Subsequently
the project is financed by the sale of the data itself",
explains Flaux.
Initial reactions to the proposal are mixed. Mathieu
Fleury from the journalistic professional association Impressum and Bruno Clément
from the media union Comedia find the idea exciting,
in particular because it involves journalists and
strengthen their influence. Guy Mettan from the Club Suisse de la Presse, the
international media meeting place in Geneva, supports them. Alfred Haas,
the secretary of the Presse Romande publishers' association, on the other hand, does not see
much new: "The media planners are already selecting the title that
them the best
promises access to the desired target audience, and this can be
be both qualitative and quantitative considerations." And
Georges von Cszernatony, member of the Publicitas Management Board, fears that
finally, that the assessments are subjective in nature.
and adds: "There are so many different titles with different
different positioning and different target audiences,
that it will be difficult to standardize their quality with uniform criteria.
to record." However, if such a study is scientifically serious
it could certainly be of benefit, says von Cszernatony.

Strong, independent editorial teams
Dominique Flaux is not discouraged by the criticism. Many
Advertisers are genuinely interested in being able to offer their services in a credible
environment: But after
What criteria does a national advertising client from the German advertising
Switzerland a daily newspaper in French-speaking Switzerland? How can a media planner
from French-speaking Switzerland, the qualitative development of a Swiss-German
magazine? The from
The difficulty of valuation mentioned by Publicitas also applies to
a quantitative evaluation: "The same accusation can also be
towards the Mach
basic, which is based on surveys and sometimes leads to completely absurd
ratings," says Flaux. From the point of view of Publicitas, intellectual
independent journalists are often something like troublemakers, at least
potential opponents of the advertising industry. "I, on the other hand, am convinced,
that the larger the publisher, the stronger the
intellectual power of its journalists - on condition that
however, that the title is not only based on quantitative criteria
is valued." Even the advertisers are interested in strong and
independent editorial offices because it enhances their advertising.
In any case, Flaux is already fundraising: one of the banks' close
foundation in Geneva is interested in the project. The Geneva
Banks? "Yes of course, we are talking about the humanist
Calvinist circles, who still follow their Journal de Genève
mourn
and are interested in a quality press." Dominique Flaux wants
will start next spring with a test run in French-speaking Switzerland. Goal
is to ask around 1000 journalists for an assessment of their
of the Western Switzerland titles. If the result turns out to be
the method can be extended to the whole of Switzerland.
be

Helen Brügger