Ringier vs. Meyer: Blunder at Blick
Following an internal dispute, Federal Parliament correspondent Henry Habegger must leave *Blick* effective immediately. Frank A. Meyer is furious, as the decision was made against his will.
As reported by the newspapers NZZ am Sonntag and Schweiz am Sonntag, long-time Federal Palace journalist Henry Habegger was released from his duties with immediate effect on Friday Namittag. With this, publisher Michael Ringier surprisingly decided against the will of Frank A. Meyer and angered him accordingly. Ringier is talking about a "revolution", writes the NZZ am Sonntag, because the decision has an impact on the political orientation of Blick. Questions on which Meyer normally has the last word.
The dismissal was preceded by a conflict between Habegger and Andreas Kunz, who has been deputy head of the politics department since the beginning of August. Kunz, who previously worked for Weltwoche, was brought in by former interim editor-in-chief Andrea Bleicher. Habegger, who has been reporting from the Federal Parliament for Blick since 2004 with a close affinity to the SP (and thus to Meyer's taste) and has worked for Ringier since 1998, fell out with Kunz after the latter had written a commentary on Federal Councillor Widmer-Schlumpf. Habegger's analysis on the topic, on the other hand, was not printed.
Habegger then openly opposed Kunz and the Blick management in an e-mail. In response, Kunz handed in his notice two weeks ago - while still on probation - but then went on to write the highly acclaimed series of articles on the "Carlos" case. The two journalists had already clashed in the past, when Kunz accused Habegger in Weltwoche of deliberately influencing Christoph Blocher's expulsion from the Federal Council.
Florian Fels, head of Ringier's publishing department, finally informed Habegger that he had to leave the media company. The personnel decision was also discussed with publisher Michael Ringier. Kunz, on the other hand, is to be persuaded to withdraw his resignation.
Frank A. Meyer is said to have campaigned "vehemently" for his ally Habegger - without success. Michael Ringier taking a stand against Meyer is a novelty and, according to a Blick journalist quoted in the NZZ am Sonntag, has "never happened before since the two have been friends". The media company expects that Meyer will not accept the defeat and that those responsible will feel the displeasure in the form of a "tit-for-tat". (hae/NZZaS/SaS)
Image: Blick.ch
