Salt in the media soup
Medienjournalismus Klartext, the pioneering publication for critical media journalism, is celebrating its first quarter-century—and remains indispensable.
Media journalism Klartext, the pioneering magazine for critical media journalism, is celebrating its first quarter of a century - and remains indispensable. "It is an achievement that Klartext still exists today," says Hans Stutz, editor-in-chief of the first independent and non-profit Swiss media magazine for five years now. In fact, for 25 years, practically all the exponents of the press, radio and television have been reading between the lines of the competition in Klartext. The magazine has made itself indispensable for media professionals and publishers alike. If you leaf through the six issues of the past three years alone, the list of interviewees in the big interview, the Klartext trademark, reads like a veritable panopticon of the local media industry - including those on the other side of the Alpine ridge and the Röstigraben: Ringier, Köppel, Bollmann, Rothenbühler, Gisler, Lebrument, Hartmeier, Deltenre, Marchand, Rohner, Deutsch, Lüdin, but also Leuenberger (Moritz) as well as representatives from media science and media law. Since a slight refreshment of the layout almost four years ago, a portrait or reportage has joined the large, five- to six-page interview as a second focus in the magazine. Stutz describes the political orientation of Klartext as left-wing, but far removed from party-political thinking. "We report from the perspective of media professionals and focus strongly on the debate with publishers," he says. Unlike many in the industry, Klartext defends the public service and questions the socio-political and educational relevance of the media. Stutz considers the continuity of the content of the articles to be the greatest achievement in Klartext's 25-year history. Over the decades, many well-known authors have succeeded in continuously depicting and questioning the complete upheaval of the media landscape. They warned early on (and unsuccessfully) against the rampant commercialization of radio, television and the press.
Klartext was created out of concern for the continued existence of critical journalism at a time of youth unrest, advertising boycotts and the dismissal of critical journalists and editors-in-chief. The first issue was published in October 1980 by the Swiss Journalists' Union (SJU) in order to take the critical discourse on media policy beyond the trade unions. "We thought we needed an independent magazine to reinforce these concerns," recalls Jürg Bürgi, who was involved from the very beginning and later became President of the Foundation Board and editor of Klartext for many years. They took the new magazine to the streets and quickly gathered enough subscribers. The revealing reports about the inner workings of the media quickly attracted attention in the boardrooms, where reports were diligently copied out.
The Klartext Foundation was later established to ensure editorial independence. From January 1985, Max Jäggi was editor-in-chief of Klartext for almost ten years, and many see his era as the reason for the paper's continuity. Insiders are of the opinion that Klartext was more aggressive and cheekier in Max Jäggi's day than it is today.
"Today's perception in German-speaking Switzerland is somewhat strange," comments Hans Stutz. Back then, the articles were not marked to protect them from repression and sources were sometimes insufficiently documented, which is generally considered outdated today. In contrast, the interviewees are always amazed at how much attention their statements receive. Conversely, plain language is rarely quoted in the media, says Stutz. Where hateful letters to the editor used to be the order of the day, reactions have generally declined. Today, you search in vain to find out who the Klartext editorial team has probably been up to no good.
In French-speaking Switzerland, on the other hand, there is a kind of boycott against the magazine, with publishers dismissing it as a mere trade union organ. "But it's still read," says Helen Brügger, long-time correspondent for French-speaking Switzerland, whose articles successfully combat the Rösti divide. "That's important, because if you see the media as the fourth power, then the whole of Switzerland is part of it," says Brügger. However - and this applies to the entire Swiss media landscape - it has become more difficult to come up with statements that can be quoted, as today you can only talk to the bosses. This is not surprising, as many still fear for their jobs after the massive job cuts of recent years.
Klartext is published four times a year with a print run of 3500 copies and twice with a large print run of 8000 copies. The magazine is also distributed to members of the Comedia media union, who partly finance it through their membership fees. Klartext missed out on numerous subscriptions because not all media unions joined Comedia seven years ago. As a result, the changeover to a monthly publication frequency, which was repeatedly mentioned, was also postponed. "This means we can often only react slowly to current events and have to keep our articles more general," says Stutz. However, the idea is not dead. But for the time being, everything should remain the same - including on the Internet. "An additional newsletter would be too much and would only work if it replaced an existing one," says Stutz. They would much rather think about the future of media journalism, as in the current anniversary issue, and continue to add salt to the Swiss media soup.
"We report from the perspective of media professionals and focus strongly on the debate with publishers."
A Nico caricature adorns the front of the 90-page anniversary edition.
René Worni
Klartext was created out of concern for the continued existence of critical journalism at a time of youth unrest, advertising boycotts and the dismissal of critical journalists and editors-in-chief. The first issue was published in October 1980 by the Swiss Journalists' Union (SJU) in order to take the critical discourse on media policy beyond the trade unions. "We thought we needed an independent magazine to reinforce these concerns," recalls Jürg Bürgi, who was involved from the very beginning and later became President of the Foundation Board and editor of Klartext for many years. They took the new magazine to the streets and quickly gathered enough subscribers. The revealing reports about the inner workings of the media quickly attracted attention in the boardrooms, where reports were diligently copied out.
The Klartext Foundation was later established to ensure editorial independence. From January 1985, Max Jäggi was editor-in-chief of Klartext for almost ten years, and many see his era as the reason for the paper's continuity. Insiders are of the opinion that Klartext was more aggressive and cheekier in Max Jäggi's day than it is today.
"Today's perception in German-speaking Switzerland is somewhat strange," comments Hans Stutz. Back then, the articles were not marked to protect them from repression and sources were sometimes insufficiently documented, which is generally considered outdated today. In contrast, the interviewees are always amazed at how much attention their statements receive. Conversely, plain language is rarely quoted in the media, says Stutz. Where hateful letters to the editor used to be the order of the day, reactions have generally declined. Today, you search in vain to find out who the Klartext editorial team has probably been up to no good.
In French-speaking Switzerland, on the other hand, there is a kind of boycott against the magazine, with publishers dismissing it as a mere trade union organ. "But it's still read," says Helen Brügger, long-time correspondent for French-speaking Switzerland, whose articles successfully combat the Rösti divide. "That's important, because if you see the media as the fourth power, then the whole of Switzerland is part of it," says Brügger. However - and this applies to the entire Swiss media landscape - it has become more difficult to come up with statements that can be quoted, as today you can only talk to the bosses. This is not surprising, as many still fear for their jobs after the massive job cuts of recent years.
Klartext is published four times a year with a print run of 3500 copies and twice with a large print run of 8000 copies. The magazine is also distributed to members of the Comedia media union, who partly finance it through their membership fees. Klartext missed out on numerous subscriptions because not all media unions joined Comedia seven years ago. As a result, the changeover to a monthly publication frequency, which was repeatedly mentioned, was also postponed. "This means we can often only react slowly to current events and have to keep our articles more general," says Stutz. However, the idea is not dead. But for the time being, everything should remain the same - including on the Internet. "An additional newsletter would be too much and would only work if it replaced an existing one," says Stutz. They would much rather think about the future of media journalism, as in the current anniversary issue, and continue to add salt to the Swiss media soup.
"We report from the perspective of media professionals and focus strongly on the debate with publishers."
A Nico caricature adorns the front of the 90-page anniversary edition.
René Worni
