O beautiful little Switzerland: The BZ Prize went to the Confederation 

The Bern-based Espace Media presented its awards for local journalism and press photography for the 20th time at the National Museum in Zurich.
was, "local journalism is not yet ready for the museum," said Charles
von Graffenried in his speech. The publisher and president of the
BZ Prize for Local Journalism and the Espace Media Prize for
Press photography was able to attend a very dignified celebration 520
guests, including guest speakers such as Federal Councillor Christoph
Blocher.
How important the local and therefore also regional journalism is again
Graffenried analyzed in his speech on the basis of how the
Split editions springing up like mushrooms. Local journalism
could revitalize the lost media diversity. A
Diversity of analyses and different interpretations of local
Events are part of a functioning democracy," said the publisher.
Editorial offices have to reach for the ceiling. "The subsidies
by Zurich publishers is something we no longer want," said Graffenried
alluding to the participation of the NZZ in the Bund and the
Tages-Anzeiger to the Berner Zeitung. The Bern model with the
For Graffenried, the merger of the FC and the Confederation should therefore now be "the
bring salvation".

Modern forms of information
Graffenried sees much more for the future of local journalism
interactive involvement of the readership. Letters to the editor are published
interest. Readers will be able to find the
supply editorial offices with information. The speaker mentioned the
bombings in London, where the most interesting messages about SMS
and even MMS from those affected in the subway directly to the media
have been sent. Graffenried sees various
applications in the future "the alternative public" with a
Local newspaper as intermediary.
In the local editorial competition, a total of 72 authors clearly
more than last year. "You miss the outstanding
work. But the average has improved," said the
Jury. She also noticed that among most of the submitted
articles with hard research on politically relevant topics.
are to be found. "Soft themes dominate" with portraits of outsiders
as well as quirky or endearing incidents. Nevertheless, the jury wanted
appreciate "the great work done in mostly very small local editorial offices"
is achieved.
In contrast to the previous year, a main prize winner was once again
be honored. Daniel Di Falco, Der Bund, was awarded the
Main prize of the BZ Prize for Local Journalism of the German-speaking
Switzerland. His excellently written and respectfully
The article "Otto's ark is made of polyester" appeared in Kleine
Bund. In his acceptance speech, the prizewinner spoke out against
austerity measures. He visited his protagonist five times
until the text in its present form was possible. "Not the
We will run out of material, but we will run out of time for quality," said Di
Falco.
"Conveying something in such a way that you want to read it" was one of the jury's
important criterion. This worked for one job, for example
of the editorial team Janine Hosp, Walter Sturzenegger, Hélène Arnet and
Andres Büchi from the Tages-Anzeiger. For her versatile and politically
relevant commuter series "What moves Zurich", published in five parts,
they received the recognition award.
The main prizewinner of the BZ Prize for Local Journalism of the
French-speaking Switzerland is Isabelle Graber from the Journal de Jura. With
her finely nuanced and multifaceted series of articles "Les orphelins de
Courtelary", she got otherwise speechless orphans to talk.
brought. Nic Ulmi was awarded second prize by the Tribune de
Genève, which was honored with a reader-oriented and inspiring
Reportage series about life and people in the city of Geneva
reported.

Swiss Press Photo 2005
The "Swiss Press Photo" of the year 2005 shows a peaceful picture of the
nationwide blackouts during the SBB power outage on June 22. The
Keystone photographer Laurent Gilliéron captured the moments of this
involuntary time-out with the camera. The "Picture of the Year" and
Winning picture in the "Topicality" category appeared in the NZZ, among others
and in the Tages-Anzeiger.
Olivier Vogelsang from Geneva won in the "Everyday life and environment" category,
whose picture series "Glacier cover near Andermatt" was published in the Tribune de
Genève was published. In the "Portrait" category, the prize went to Monika
Flückiger from Keystone. Her pictures show the visit of Federal Councillor
Micheline Calmy-Rey on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In the category
"Sport" was won by Andreas Blatter from the Bern newspaper BZ. His picture
holds FC Thun's jubilation at its entry into the Champions League
was determined. The "Art and Culture" category was won by Gaëtan Bally,
Keystone, for his reportage on SBB station lighting
won. In the "Abroad" category, the independent Winterthur-based
Photographer Manuel Bauer with a photo reportage about the Dalai Lama.
The jury assessed a total of 1408 picture entries this year. The
Swiss Press Photo's best pictures have been published for nine years.
in one catalog. The 2005 edition has 128 pages and is available from 5.
December in bookshops and larger newsagents. In addition
This year, a large anniversary volume "The Eye of Switzerland. 15 Years of
Swiss Press Photo".
The current pictures are on display at the Landesmuseum until February 19, 2006.
exhibited under the title "The Eye of Switzerland". The
Swiss Press Photo 05" traveling exhibition will also be on display at the Salon du Livre
Geneva (27.4. - 1.5.06) and subsequently at the Politforum Käfigturm Bern
(May/June 2006).

The speech
A down-to-earth understanding of reality was called for by Federal Councillor Christoph
Blocher in his laudatory speech at the local journalism competition. As
He took Augstein's (Spiegel) demand for the title of his plea
"Write what is!".

The journalist should not make any judgments, Blocher wanted. The
But journalists should be uninhibited in pointing out everything that happens in our
world is not right. Then the people will judge.

Blocher found his role model for good journalism in Albert Anker. Anker, too, only depicted exactly what is.

For an embarrassingly long time, the elite of the media world in attendance
applauded by Blocher. People apparently didn't realize that the sophisticated
Schmeichel formulated a rejection of critical journalism only as a rejection of
journalism that thinks for itself.

Writing what is helps Blocher's policy more than that
Writing what should or could be. Recognition for local journalism
Blocher pays tribute to the fact that it is more difficult to recognize the
than to publish about the big events in the world.
rant.

Andreas Panzeri