Ringier raises money for the Olympic Games
As reported by the Bündner Tagblatt, a joint venture of Ringier and Infront is looking for sponsors for the Graubünden 2022 bid, and CEO Marc Walder is enthusiastic about the idea of the Olympic Games in Graubünden.
Around a quarter of the bid costs are to be contributed by sponsors, which Infront Ringier is seeking. The company is owned half by Ringier and half by the sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media. The reasons for Ringier's interest in a successful bid are complex. As Ringier CEO Marc Walder stated in an interview with the Bünder Tagblatt, Olympic Games are generally interesting for media companies - especially if they take place in their own country. As CEO of a private media company, he is allowed to lean out of the window more than Roger de Weck, who holds back despite noticeable personal enthusiasm. Walder can't hide his enthusiasm either: "The Olympic Games should be brought back to where they come from: to the mountains. There would hardly be a better place for the Winter Games "than the wonderful Grisons!" says the Ringier CEO.
Once again, the question of journalistic independence arises in connection with Ringier. Walder answers in the affirmative the question of whether, with all the enthusiasm of the CEO and the media company, there is still room for the numerous critical voices. Sonntagsblick, for example, had only recently offered the opposing side a large platform. "However, this article also showed that the opponents' arguments are not very strong." But journalistic independence is guaranteed, even if it is "in the nature of things" that newspapers with an affinity for sports, such as Blick and Sonntagsblick, are basically positive about the Olympic Games. Walder also does not see other Ringier involvement as endangering critical reporting. For example, Blick would make no secret of the fact that concerts organized by Ringier subsidiaries Good News and Ticketcorner were "lousy". And the involvement of national coach Hitzfeld (Werbewoche.ch reported) has even resulted in Ringier journalists watching him even more critically, as readers and competitors are now keeping a particularly close eye on them, Walder says.
Source: Bündner Tagblatt, November 16, 2012
Teaser image: Liliana Portmann / Bünder Tagblatt
