Publisher's mail for Gygi

Distribution II The publishers' association wants information from Swiss Post about Sacha Wigdorovits' free newspaper Last week, Swiss Post CEO Ulrich Gygi received mail from the Swiss Press Association. The reason was Sacha Wigdorovits' new free newspaper, which is to be distributed by the Swiss Post subsidiary Direct Mail Company (DMC) in Zurich, Berne and Basel from September. Publisher President Hanspeter Lebrument confirms: "We have written to Mr. Gygi asking for a meeting." At the same time, Lebrument emphasizes that the association's initiative is not fundamentally directed against the new free paper or the early delivery competition. "Some of our members may be annoyed by the project, but as an association it can't bother us." Instead, they want clarity about the price of 7.2 centimes per copy that DMC apparently wants to charge for distribution. Outrageously low when you consider that sending a newspaper by post can easily cost five times as much, depending on the weight. "I also heard about this rate, but Swiss Post has not officially confirmed it yet," says Lebrument. "But if the information turns out to be correct, the association will be called upon to act."
The President refers to Article 15 of the Postal Services Act (federal press subsidies). "As long as newspaper transportation rates are dependent on political decisions, Swiss Post must apply roughly the same rates everywhere. It would be unacceptable to simply offer completely different prices via a subsidiary," says Lebrument.
Markus Knöpfli