Tamedia confirmed the plans, which were first reported by the online magazine Republik, to the Keystone-SDA news agency on Wednesday upon request. Republik reported more than 20 employees would be affected. A Tamedia spokesperson did not give a specific number, but spoke of a small number of employees. According to its own figures, the publishing house had around 1,300 employees in the summer.
Part of the job cuts will be made through early retirement, and an existing social plan will be applied. According to Tamedia, the job cuts are part of a savings program in the amount of CHF 70 million already announced in August 2020, which is to be implemented in the years 2021 to 2023.
Tamedia is a company of the listed TX Group. According to the half-year figures published at the end of August, the business with paid media products developed negatively in the first half of the year due to the effects of the Corona crisis and the Ukraine war. Profitability decreased significantly. (sda.)
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At the federal level, Patrick Feuz will be replaced by Isabelle Jacobi. (Werbewoche.ch reported.)
"With Patrick Feuz, an outstanding journalist, analytical thinker and long-standing connoisseur of business and politics is joining us," say agency owners Nicole Walker, Matthias Kuratli and Pascal Schütz. Feuz, who during his journalistic career was head of the "Bund" domestic editorial office, head of the federal house editorial office of "Tages-Anzeiger" and "Bund" and editor-in-chief for the last seven years, is looking forward to the new challenge: "After almost 30 years in journalism, now is the right time for me to tackle something new again together with the experienced team of GECKO".
Gecko Communication AG was founded in 2013 as a classic public relations agency. Initially with mandates in the areas of event PR (including Zermatt Unplugged, Gurtenfestival), media relations and events (including Swiss meat, Von Graffenried Group), GECKO has developed into a strategic consulting and content agency. Today, the portfolio includes the support of complex construction and planning projects (local planning, guideline planning, area developments) as well as content creation in the area of film (e.g. various film projects of the University of Bern). "With Patrick Feuz, we can expand our expertise in strategic consulting and in the production of high-quality content," says Gecko Communication. "Recognizing what makes a credible message and how to formulate and communicate it convincingly is essential today to move complex projects forward - here Patrick Feuz brings a lot of know-how and experience."
With the addition of new staff, Gecko is expanding its existing range of services, particularly in the areas of corporate communications, change management, crisis communications, media relations and training, and presentation skills. In addition, the agency maintains its mainstays of event management, hybrid and virtual events, moving image and public relations.
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It is not yet clear when exactly Isabelle Jacobi will take up her position with the Swiss Confederation. She has been working as SRF's US correspondent in Washington D.C. since 2017. Prior to that, she spent almost ten years at the SRF radio program "Echo der Zeit", initially as a producer and presenter, before taking over as editor-in-chief in 2012. Between 2006 and 2008, she was a freelance correspondent in New York, working for SRF, Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandradio Berlin, NZZ on Sunday and The Covenant. From 1999 to 2006, she was presenter and editor of DRS 2 aktuell. Before that, she worked as a dramaturge and playwright. Isabelle Jacobi holds a Master's degree in English studies, Swiss history and theater studies from the University of Bern. She also studied business administration in Los Angeles and journalism in New York.
"I'm looking forward to this new, exciting role and my move from the Potomac to the Aare," says Isabelle Jacobi. "As a member of the editorial team BZ/Federation I will stand up for quality journalism in Bern as a media center and support the traditional Confederation together with the convergent BZ/Federation-editorial team into the multimedia future."
Pietro Supino, publisher of Tamedia: "With her journalistic track record and her experience with new narrative forms, as well as her Bernese roots and her international perspective, Isabelle Jacobi brings excellent qualifications to her new role as Editor-in-Chief of the Confederation with. It gives me great pleasure to welcome them to the circle of our editors-in-chief. An exciting task awaits her in these turbulent and changing times. I wish her all the best and look forward to working with her. "
Marco Boselli, Co-Managing Director of Tamedia, says: "I think it's great that we have been able to recruit a journalist with a high reputation, who also originally comes from Bern, as the new Editor-in-Chief of the Bund. Isabelle Jacobi fits in perfectly with the journalistic profile of the Confederation and will continue to hone this with her extensive experience in research and background. In addition, she will provide important cross-editorial input for new audio formats throughout Tamedia."
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"Now that the new concept for Bern reporting has ensured that the Bund and Berner Zeitung will continue to be offerings with their own profile, I can fulfill my long-held desire to tackle something new professionally," the 54-year-old Feuz was quoted as saying in a Tamedia statement. "The new editorial team will meet the high standards of quality, diligence and diversity of content."
Patrick Feuz has been editor-in-chief of the Bund since 2015 (Werbewoche.ch reported). In 2009, he took over as head of the federal house editorial department of The Covenant and Tages-Anzeiger. Since 2007, he has served as deputy editor-in-chief of The Covenant active. Before that, he already worked from 1993 for the Confederationinitially in the Berne department, later for the domestic editorial department, which he headed in 2002. Patrick Feuz studied contemporary history, English literature and media studies and has edited various reference books, including the biography of chocolate manufacturer Theodor Tobler.
"Patrick Feuz has played a decisive role in shaping the development of the popular Stadtberner Zeitung over the past three decades and has most recently shown great commitment in helping to set up the new editorial office for Bern in terms of concept and personnel," said Marco Boselli, co-managing director of Tamedia. "With his many years of publishing and journalistic experience and his broad knowledge of the city and canton of Bern, he has made a significant contribution to ensuring that the planned joint local editorial team of the Bund and Berner Zeitung is well positioned for its launch in October. We very much regret his departure."
The position at the head of The Covenant will be reassigned. According to Tamedia, information about the new appointment will be provided at the appropriate time.
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According to "Courage Civil", 2935 people took part in the survey between February and March 2021. According to its own statements, the movement wants to ensure media diversity in the greater Bern area, namely against the background of the merger of the editorial offices of Confederation and Bernese Newspaper.
The vast majority of respondents would like to see a new online magazine in the greater Bern area that takes a critical view of all the players in the political arena. Only 14 percent opted for a medium that views events from either a left-wing or a bourgeois perspective.
Interest in national and international topics is slightly higher than in regional or local stories, according to the survey available to the Keystone-SDA news agency. The business and sports sections met with rather little interest among respondents.
In addition to the classification of political and social topics, the readers surveyed would also appreciate the coverage of cultural issues, as the survey further shows.
Just under a quarter of those surveyed were in favor of an advertising-free medium. At 69 percent, the acceptance of clearly declared advertising, such as public reports or native advertising, is high, conclude those responsible for "Courage Civil.
Two-thirds of those surveyed would be willing to pay between 40 and 100 francs for a subscription. One fifth would also pay more than 100 francs.
Of the 2935 participants, 66 percent are men, 33 percent are women and 1 percent are diverse. Virtually all of them consume Bernese media. Around 60 percent have a university or college degree. 85 percent come from a city or conurbation.
According to its own information, "Courage civil" was founded in 2018 during the campaign for the No Billag initiative. Its managing director is Mark Balsiger, a political consultant and book author from Bern. (SDA)
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As the Syndicom union announced on Wednesday, the statement includes ten alternative cost-cutting options to avoid layoffs. Thus the Confederation- and the BZ-The company's staff, for example, is planning to streamline the management structure. There is no need for four people on the editorial board.
Another proposal is to limit wages to a maximum of 9,000 francs gross per month. Many employees are also willing to give up their own job percentages in order to save colleagues from dismissal or dismissal with notice.
As Sheila Matti of the Personnel Commission (Peko) of BZ/Confederation said in response to a question, a little more than two full-time positions could be saved with voluntary reductions in staffing levels. The Peko of the Tamedia Editorial Services (TES) department also contributed to the statement.
In this department, Tamedia brings together layouters, photographers and proofreaders, among others, across regions.
On April 8, Tamedia had announced that 20 of around 70 full-time positions would probably be cut as part of the merger of the two editorial teams (Werbewoche.ch reported). However, the two titles will remain independent - each with an editor-in-chief. The reorganization will be defined in more detail in the coming months with the involvement of the two editorial teams.
As far as possible, the job cuts will be made through natural fluctuation. Otherwise, a social plan will be applied. (SDA)
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Above all, clarity must be provided quickly as to who will be affected by the job cuts, said the Manifesto. Moreover, the two staffs see in the new structures indications that the job cuts should not be at the expense of the cadre, but of the journalists - and thus at the expense of "the anchoring in the region".
According to the manifesto, a greatly reduced editorial team in the future would be responsible for two newspapers and two online portals that pretend to be of different content. "In fact, however, pages and articles are merely shifted back and forth between the titles like backdrops: Readers are being taken for fools."
Check alternative models
The staff supported by the journalists' association Imprint and the Syndicom trade union emphasize that they are not closing their eyes to the economic reality in the media industry. However, they also point to the facts that Tamedia's parent company TX Group paid out 37 million francs in dividends in the past pandemic year and received millions in short-time compensation from the federal government.
The planned reduction of 20 full-time positions would mean the loss of around 30 employees. It would be unrealistic to compensate for this through natural fluctuation. The employees are therefore calling on the parent company to seriously examine alternative models.
At the beginning of April, the Zurich-based media company Tamedia announced that it would close the editorial offices of Bernese Newspaper and Confederation and is expected to cut 20 full-time jobs (Werbewoche.ch reported). However, the two titles are to remain independent. Following a loss of more than CHF 100 million for the TX Group in the first half of 2020, Tamedia already announced last October that the editorial teams of Bund and Berner Zeitung would move even closer together. (SDA)
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The company, which is part of the TX Group, announced Thursday that the reorganization will be defined in more detail in the coming months. The two editorial teams will be involved. The job cuts will depend on the results of this consultation, it said. As far as possible, it is to be carried out through natural fluctuation.
Otherwise, a social plan will be applied. The editorial offices of Bernese Newspaper (BZ) and Confederation currently consist of around a hundred people, who fill around 70 full-time positions. In the future, about 70 people will work in 50 positions, as Tamedia co-managing director Marco Boselli told the Keystone-SDA news agency in response to an inquiry.
Tamedia intends to continue the two newspapers as separate offerings. The Covenant is to be positioned as a newspaper in which the opinion and debate sections are strengthened and in which broader foreign and cultural reporting can be found.
The BZ is to focus on more comprehensive regional reporting and on sports. According to their own figures, the two newspapers currently reach a total audience of around 420,000 with their print and online editions.
The Syndicom trade union criticized in a statement that the job cuts were being made "without necessity". Tamedia had achieved a profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of eleven million francs last year. The redundancies should be reduced to a minimum. A fair social plan should be presented for the unavoidable part of the reduction.
The end of the "Bern model
Bern's mayor Alec von Graffenried (GFL) spoke on Thursday of a "black day for Bern". The journalistic competition between two editorial teams had so far ensured a differentiated, critical and independent public debate. Now Tamedia is sacrificing this so-called "Bern model" to economic considerations.
Also for Sheila Matti of the Personnel Commission of the Bernese Newspaper the merger of the two editorial offices means the end of the "Bern model" as it is known today. It is probably not wrong to speak of a "one-size-fits-all" approach that is now threatening, Matti added when asked.
According to the statement, the Bernese cantonal government believes that there is now a risk of "impoverishment" of Bern as a media center.
Boselli did not deny on Thursday that the merger of the editorial offices means the end of the "Bern model". The new unified editorial office will report jointly on a region, not against each other anymore.
However, the Tamedia co-managing director does not rule out the possibility of future Confederation and BZ different comments appeared, for example, on voting results. However, this is still to be defined now, he said. Tamedia will remain the largest media player on the Bern square and will continue to ensure good reporting.
A new magazine in response?
Tamedia had already announced at the end of October last year that Confederation and Bernese Newspaper will have to work more closely together in the future. Previously, TX Group had announced that it would cut several dozen journalistic jobs following a loss of CHF 106 million in the first half of 2020. (SDA)
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In the canton of Berne will occur what is already the case in large regions such as Basel, Lucerne and St. Gallen: A single editorial office will deal with local issues without looking at the competition. This writes the government council in its response published on Wednesday to a question from Grand Councilor Natalie Imboden (Greens).
According to the government council, it is in contact with the management of the TX Group, the parent company of Tamedia. He has repeatedly pointed out the importance of two competing local and regional editorial offices. A next meeting is planned for May, he said.
It is undisputed that the media play an important role in democracy as the fourth estate. But in the final analysis, the company management is responsible for deciding how to finance and staff its newspaper editorial offices.
Status of the Information Act
Grand Councilor Imboden also wanted to know what the roadmap for the revision of the Bernese Information Act looks like. The state chancellery will submit the bill to the government council at the end of March or in April 2021 for consultation release, writes the government.
The Grand Council had initiated the revision of the law at the end of 2019. At the time, it spoke out in favor of indirect media funding and asked for consideration of measures that take into account the "great importance of independent, diverse quality journalism for the functioning of the democratic state." (SDA)
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Netflix and the like use an algorithm to show users what they supposedly want to see. But there is much more. But it is often difficult to catch this content. Tamedia's culture editorial department wants to remedy this situation and is therefore presenting a curated selection of series and films that can be streamed in Switzerland online every month. Readers of the Tages-Anzeiger, Berner Zeitung and Bund will be given the opportunity to submit their personal ratings.
The best premieres from Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Disney+, Sky, Mubi and Swiss providers such as Play Suisse, as well as other recommendations, for example on classics, are presented by culture editor Pascal Blum in the new "Watch It" newsletter. In it, he also presents the editorial team's streaming favorites as well as the user vote winner. The newsletter can be subscribed to free of charge on the news sites of the three newspapers.
Tamedia told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Thursday that the project of closer cooperation would start in April. The publisher is aiming to maintain both newspaper titles and continue to position them differently.
The Covenant should be more urban in orientation, the Bernese Newspaper rather rural. The reason for the project is structural: advertising sales of printed newspapers are falling continuously. Sales of subscriptions are also declining.
In August of this year, the TX Group company, to which Tamedia belongs, announced a loss of CHF 106 million in the first half of 2020. TX Group announced at the time that it would cut several dozen journalistic jobs.
Unions see Berne model in danger
The online magazine Republic wrote on Thursday that Tamedia was laying off the editorial teams of Confederation and Bernese Newspaper together. This was also the view of the media union Syndicom and the journalists' professional association Impressum, as they wrote in a statement.
Under the title "The End of the Bern Model?" they write that until now the so-called Bern newspaper model with two titles from the same city has guaranteed a certain diversity of opinion in the region. Two competing daily newspapers had provided thematic breadth and attitudes with their reports. "That could now be an end."
Markus Dütschler, co-chairman of the joint staff committee of the Bund and Berner Zeitung, spoke on request of a surprising announcement by Tamedia managers and a shock for the editors.
One could speak of an end to the Bern model in the sense that up to now, both newspapers had often reported on one and the same event. This was the case, for example, with theater premieres and parliamentary debates. Tamedia's publishing management clearly stated at a personnel briefing on Tuesday that there would no longer be any capacity for this in the future.
When asked whether the two editorial teams would be merged, Tamedia and the TX Group respectively said that no further comment would be made. (SDA)
In addition to the willingness of the reading public to pay and advertising investments by the economy, politics is called upon, writes Supino, who also presides over the Swiss Media Publishers Association, in an article published on Thursday to mark the 170th anniversary of the daily newspaper. The Covenant published article.
Politics could make a significant contribution to managing structural change. For example, by preventing the federal parliament from Confederation and Bernese Newspaper be disadvantaged in the law on the promotion of online media by the so-called holding clause.
However, the merger under one corporate roof was a prerequisite for "maintaining two newspapers with respectable editorial teams in Bern". Looking to the future, this is only possible if this entrepreneurial achievement is appreciated and the legal framework conditions are "not worse compared to other media offerings.
The bill on media subsidies is expected to come before the National Council in the winter session. The media package could be amended in the spring at the earliest, and entry into force is realistic at the beginning of 2022 at the earliest.
"Distortion of competition" by scoreboard
Another example of "how politics can make a significant contribution are the scoreboards," Supino writes. Instead of "losing a lot of money and distorting competition" with the scoreboards, the governments of the city and canton of Bern should look for a joint solution. (SDA)