At the end of June 2026, Christian Peter Meier will step down as Editor-in-Chief of the "Luzerner Zeitung" and its regional editions and retire. CH Media has started the succession process.
Christian Peter Meier, a personality who has shaped journalism in Central Switzerland for decades, is leaving the company. Since the late 1980s, Meier has worked without interruption in various functions for today's CH Media newspapers in Zug and Lucerne.
Decades of experience in Central Switzerland
Meier was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the "Luzerner Zeitung" and its regional editions in Zug, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri at the end of 2023. The editorial office in Maihof was previously his place of work when he worked for the "Vaterland" and the "Neue Luzerner Zeitung". Meier also worked in his home town of Zug. He was editor-in-chief of the "Zuger Zeitung" from 2007 to 2015.
"Christian Peter Meier has taken over the Luzerner Zeitung and its regional editions at a time of change and brought them forward. The number of digital subscriptions has grown and the print editions have sharpened their profile," says publisher Peter Wanner. Patrik Müller, Editor-in-Chief of CH Media, adds: "We will miss his knowledge, his experience and also his passionate and humorous manner - as well as his high-profile journalistic contributions." The publisher and editor-in-chief would like to thank Meier for his decades of commitment.
New phase of life with art and travel
Christian Peter Meier says: "It was a privilege to have editorial responsibility for such a long time and to work with so many outstanding journalists. Especially in phases in which digitalization and structural change have greatly altered the media landscape." In the upcoming phase of his life, Meier wants to devote more time to art, study foreign languages, play tennis and travel Europe.
CH Media has started the succession process. The editor-in-chief is directly responsible for the "Luzerner Zeitung" and manages the editorial teams of the "Zuger Zeitung", "Nidwaldner Zeitung", "Obwaldner Zeitung" and "Urner Zeitung". He or she is also a member of the Editor-in-Chief's Conference of CH Media, the leading newspaper network in German-speaking Switzerland, with a reach of 800,000 readers on weekdays and over 1 million readers at weekends.
]]>
Bettina Schibli, President of the LZ Christmas Campaign Foundation, is delighted: "We are deeply touched by the solidarity in our region. It also offers comfort in times of catastrophe and many conflicts around the world. We are grateful that we are once again able to help so many people."
The donations benefit people in need in Central Switzerland. A total of 3860 requests for help were submitted via social institutions and social authorities and examined by the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board has already assessed 3,400 applications, the vast majority of which have been approved. This advisory board consists of 14 volunteer social experts from all over Central Switzerland and guarantees that donations are used as efficiently as possible.
Around 92 million francs collected in 30 years
Since it was founded in 1996, the LZ Christmas campaign has collected a total of almost 92 million francs and dealt with around 69,000 requests for help. This makes it by far the most successful fundraising campaign by a Swiss newspaper.
The significance of the LZ Christmas campaign for the region is demonstrated by the numerous responses from grateful victims and social institutions that submit the requests. Time and again, people emphasize how unbureaucratically, quickly and effectively the donations reach those in need. The donation account will remain open throughout the year; incoming donations will be used immediately for the next collection campaign, which will be officially launched next November.
The editor-in-chief of the Lucerne NewspaperJérôme Martinu, will leave the company at the end of 2023. The reason for this is a difference in strategic views, the daily newspaper announced on its online portal on Wednesday. Deputy Editor-in-Chief Christian Meier will take over on an interim basis.
Martinu and CH Media, publisher of the newspaper, have agreed to terminate the contract, as the news article went on to say. The deputy editor-in-chief Christian Meier will take over the interim management. Martinu worked for the newspaper for a total of 22 years. Lucerne Newspaper active. He has been Editor-in-Chief since 2016. (sda)
]]>
In its 27th collection, the Luzerner Zeitung's LZ Christmas campaign achieved the second-best result since its launch in 1996: The readers of the Luzerner Zeitung and its regional editions in Zug, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri donated a total of 5,465,574 Swiss francs to people in need in Central Switzerland. This means that the five million mark was exceeded for the third time in succession. The majority of the total of 18,160 donations came from private individuals; many companies were equally generous.
Bettina Schibli, President of the LZ Christmas Campaign Foundation, reacted accordingly enthusiastically: "The result of this year's collection has far exceeded my expectations. I am touched that so many people, who themselves have less at their disposal due to the increased cost of living, have shown such solidarity and willingness to help. Thanks to these donations, we can once again help a great many people in Central Switzerland."
The donations benefit people in need. A total of 3741 requests for assistance were received, which were submitted via social institutions and social authorities and are then reviewed by the Advisory Board. The increase compared to last year by 6%, underlines the need for the relief action. The Advisory Board has already dealt with more than 3000 of them, and most of them have been answered positively. This advisory board, consisting of 14 voluntary social professionals from all over Central Switzerland, guarantees the most efficient use of the donations.
75 million francs collected in 27 years
The LZ Christmas campaign is and remains a success story: Since its inception in 1996, it has already collected a cumulative total of over 75 million Swiss francs and dealt with 55,000 requests for help. This makes it by far the most successful collection campaign by a Swiss newspaper.
]]>
In its 26th collection, the LZ Christmas campaign of the Lucerne Newspaper achieved a new record result: The readers of the Lucerne Newspaper and its regional editions in Zug, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri donated a total of CHF 5,695,426 to people in need in Central Switzerland. This means that for the second time in a row exceeded the five million mark as CH Media writes in a press release. The majority of the total of 18,752 donations came from private individuals; many companies were equally generous.
Bettina Schibli, President of the LZ Christmas Campaign Foundation, is correspondingly enthusiastic: "The willingness to donate to the 2021 Christmas Campaign was overwhelming. It exceeded our highest expectations. It's wonderful that thanks to these donations we can once again help so many people from Central Switzerland."
The donations benefit people in need. A total of 3520 requests for assistance were received, which were submitted via social institutions and social authorities and are then examined by the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board has already dealt with more than 3000 of these and has responded positively to most of them. This advisory board, made up of 13 voluntary social experts from all over Central Switzerland, is intended to guarantee that the donations are used as efficiently as possible.
70 million francs collected in 26 years
Since it was founded in 1996, the LZ Christmas campaign has already collected a cumulative total of around 70 million Swiss francs and dealt with around 52,000 requests for help. According to CH Media, this makes it by far the most successful collection campaign by a Swiss newspaper.
The Christmas campaign is significant for the entire region of Central Switzerland and is held in high esteem for its activities. It is particularly appreciated that the donations are given quickly and unbureaucratically to those who apply for them and thus have an immediate positive effect.
Donations are already being accepted for the 27th edition of the LZ Christmas campaign. Officially, the new collection campaign will start in November 2022.
]]>
In its 25th collection, the LZ Christmas campaign achieved a great collection result: The readers of the Lucerne Newspaper and their regional editions donated a total of 5,377,439 Swiss francs. This means that the 5 million mark was exceeded for the first time, as CH Media writes in a statement. In addition to the donation result, there was also a record in the number of donors. A total of 18,970 donations were made. Once again, the collection was supported by many companies, but the majority of donations came from private individuals.
"It exceeds all our expectations. Especially in a year in which a great deal has already been donated to other collections because of Corona, our region is once again demonstrating its unique solidarity in favor of the LZ Christmas Campaign," Bettina Schibli, President of the LZ Christmas Campaign Foundation, is quoted as saying in the press release.
How welcome this help is is shown by the total of 3645 applications that have been submitted via social institutions and social authorities. Already more than 3000 could be examined by the advisory board and most of them could be answered positively.
64 million francs collected since foundation
The LZ Christmas campaign, which celebrated an anniversary with its 25th collection, has collected a total of around 64 million Swiss francs and dealt with more than 44,000 requests for help since it was founded in 1996. According to CH Media, this makes it by far the most successful collection by a Swiss newspaper. (pd/swi)
Until now, CH Media's newspaper portals have been accessible partly for a fee and partly free of charge. The already fee-based portals Luzernerzeitung.ch and Tagblatt.ch are today being converted from the metered model, in which texts only become chargeable after a certain number of clicks, to a freemium model. Only selected and clearly marked articles are subject to a charge. The rest of the newspaper portal's content remains freely accessible.
With the new paywall logic, CH Media wants to improve transparency vis-à-vis readers and also hopes to learn more about their reading needs and interests.
More titles to follow
In the second half of 2020, the free-access newspaper portals in the Mittelland region - Aargauerzeitung.ch, Solothurnerzeitung.ch, Badenertagblatt.ch, etc. - and in Basel - Bzbasel.ch - will also receive a freemium paywall. CH Media is also planning a complete relaunch of all the digital offerings of its newspapers.
The central editorial team: Roman Schenkel, Patrik Müller and Raffael Schuppisser (from left).
The merger of the national editorial teams of St. Galler Tagblatt, Lucerne Newspaper and Aargauer newspaper led to five dismissals, according to CH Media on Wednesday. The affected employees have been informed accordingly. A social plan will be applied.
CH Media is pulling together journalists who deal with national and international content into a central newsroom in Aarau for the summer. CH Media's newspapers and online portals will then be supplied with news, background information, analyses and commentary from a central newsroom.
The editor-in-chief of the central editorial office is Patrik Müller. The deputy editors-in-chief will be the two current heads of the Lucerne Newspaper and the Aargauer newspaper, Roman Schenkel and Raffael Schuppisser.
Anna Wanner and Doris Kleck will remain in charge of the Federal Parliament editorial office in Bern. Andreas Möckli is the new head of the business section. Katja Fischer de Santi and Sabine Kuster will jointly take over the team management of the Society/Life/Science section, Stephan Künzli that of Culture.
Etienne Wuillemin heads the central sports department, Samuel Schumacher becomes head of the foreign department. (SDA)
"Unrestricted access to the news portals and the use of all features is subject to a fee," a spokeswoman for the NZZ Media Group confirmed upon request. Registration is now required.
All online articles are subject to a charge, with a few exceptions such as agency news and sponsored content, it added. The title, lead and a picture of a news item are still visible free of charge - anyone who wants to read on must register. The digital subscription costs CHF 15 per month or CHF 150 per year.
The two daily newspapers belonging to the NZZ Media Group had already renewed their news portals in mid-May. The aim is to offer readers news that is digitally more closely tailored to the region. Other online offerings from Swiss media also have payment barriers. (SDA)
There is indeed cause for hope. Despite steadily declining circulation figures for paid daily newspapers, readership figures for the classic print product remain stable, at least for a regional newspaper like ours. And - the reason for hope - there is even a marked increase in readers: on the digital channel. In recent days, the Luzerner Zeitung and its regional editions not only relaunched their online brand portal, but also launched a new, dynamic registration and payment model for the digitally available newspaper content after a phase of around two and a half years of free content. Opportunities in the reader market? Certainly intact, even if associated with uncertainty.
A recently published PwC study also gives cause for hope. In their "German Entertainment & Media Outlook" report, the auditors unsurprisingly state on the one hand that "strong growth in the German media and entertainment industry is almost only possible digitally. On the other hand, this is accompanied by a growth forecast according to which online advertising will grow by an average of 5.6 percent annually until 2021. In the course of this growth, and this actually sounds like a ray of hope for publishers, revenues from the paid content business are expected to grow by double digits - per year! The PwC experts calculate just under 11 percent growth in paid content. In Germany, 15 percent of citizens, or 9 to 10 million, are already expected to spend money on digital content and services in 2017. The most encouraging aspect is that paid news services recorded the highest growth rate, along with music, movies, games and e-books.
Anyone tempted to derive more than the cause for hope propagated at the beginning of this article from such figures and forecasts, or even to predict a possible turnaround in the newspaper business, should be warned: digital and traditional audiences still tick very differently.
The difficulties in the subscription newspaper business have not diminished, but have become one dimension more complex. This is because a development can be observed that is placing great demands on editorial offices and reader market departments alike. Readers have become more self-confident. They ask questions, comment, demand and complain. Thanks to e-mail and social media, this has happened at a rate that has steadily increased in frequency and intensity in recent years. There are undoubtedly positive aspects to this development. The direct, regular dialog with readers is valuable. It generates more input for stories. And the pressure on us journalists to explain facts and/or journalistic assessments to Ms. Meier or Mr. Müller in an unfiltered conversation raises awareness of the necessary precision and comprehensibility of reporting.
However, the increased self-confidence of the paying readership also has its troublesome side: the threat of "subscription cancellation! Hardly a day goes by when newspaper publishers and editors are not threatened with turning off the money tap. Here are a few tidbits from letters.
"A few days ago I was annoyed about the naughtiness with the enormous pictures in the sheet and also told you about it. (...) I will not continue to pay over 400 francs for something like this and will draw my consequences. Which is presumably as long as wide to you." For another subscriber, the delivery interruption during the vacations didn't work out: "If I worked the way you and your employees do, I would have been out of work long ago and could close down my company. (...) If your service does not improve, I will cancel your newspaper immediately." Or it is a matter, as in the case of this reader, that a person providing information or his statements are not approved: "How can you give so much space to such a poltergeist who launches a broadside against a democratically elected (!) president (Donald Trump; editor's note)? (...) If the reporting does not move back toward neutrality and balance in the future, I will cancel the subscription." Commenting on a guest article about the No Billag vote, in which the author shouted "Grow up!" to the initiators, a reader wrote: "Your newspaper must be doing very well to dare to publish such crude reader insults. (...) But I won't stand for it, the bow has been stretched too far. As soon as the subscription invoice arrives, I will send it back with the note: 'Subscription will not be renewed'."
How should an editor and journalist deal with this? Wipe the slate clean? Or respond as 1:1 as possible to such demands with a view to the growing holes in the coffers? Neither. We newspaper producers should make an effort for every single customer. That means first of all: answering complaints personally whenever possible. Then explain, explain, explain - and also show the courage to admit a mistake and display the necessary degree of self-criticism. In return, we must not give in to the threat of "cancellation of subscription" - especially in view of the freedom of the press. That would only give further impetus to the already growing, unhealthy polarization of opinions. We journalists should not allow ourselves to be stirred up by know-it-alls and angry citizens or by the trend toward categorical intolerance of dissenting opinions. Even if that is sometimes really difficult.
Jérôme Martinuhas been editor-in-chief of the Luzerner Zeitung since May 2016. The 43-year-old historian was previously Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Head of Regional Departments since 2012. He has worked at LZ-Medienhaus in Lucerne for over 16 years. The Luzerner Zeitung and its regional editions in Zug, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri are currently read by around 292,000 people. The newspaper is part of the NZZ Media Group and works in the national section in institutionalized cooperation with its partner newspaper St. Galler Tagblatt, which is also part of the NZZ.
Be it a good speech or an interesting presentation - both stand and fall primarily by their content. The two regional newspapers of the NZZ Media Group not only inform readers about news from the wider world, but also provide them with regional news and facts - on a daily basis. The media company focuses on high-quality and thoroughly researched journalism. The Lucerne Newspaper and the St. Galler Tagblatt communicate with a personnel-supported marketing activity and gain new readers by being close to the regional population.
An activity creates an experience for the target group
What Karl Marx, Lenin and George Orwell could do, the regional newspapers of the NZZ Media Group have been able to do for a long time! Inspired by the past, USP brought the famous "Speakers' Corner" of Hyde Park in London to Lucerne and St. Gallen. Not only the activity was inspired by "the good old days", but the entire presentation. Dressed in a stylish tailcoat, top hat and a matching moustache, the reader, a professional actor, appeared on the podium and transformed the Bahnhofplatz in Lucerne and the Shoppingarena in St.Gallen into a vintage podcast to inform passers-by about current events in the region in an entertaining way. From young to old, passers-by were captivated and were able to learn something about their region and the world at the same time.
After the five-minute show, which was repeated regularly throughout the day, promoters handed out flyers to the audience with an attractive trial offer from the Lucerne Newspaper respectively of the St. Galler Tagblatt.
USP was responsible for the entire conception, planning and implementation of the promotion.
The news portals Luzernerzeitung.ch and Tagblatt.ch appear in a new design. The main innovation: Registered users can select their respective region on the news portal and in the app and set this as their homepage. In addition to the classic view in the new "Meine LZ" or "Mein Tagblatt" area, the mobile app for iOS and Android of the regional media also offers additional functionalities. Those who register receive a daily newsletter tailored to their region and can save articles in their profile in a watch list. "The new news portals and the news app represent a major milestone for us. We are offering our users a unique, regional reading experience and at the same time tapping into new target groups," says Pascal Hollenstein, Head of Journalism at NZZ Regional Media, with conviction.
Users can now subscribe to the Luzerner Zeitung and the St. Galler Tagblatt in three different variants: Digital, Digital Plus and Print & Digital. Digital is a new product that offers access to the content of the News app and to Luzernerzeitung.ch or Tagblatt.ch for CHF 15 per month. It is available as a monthly or annual subscription. In addition to the web offering, the Digital Plus subscription also provides access to the e-paper and other services. With Print & Digital, subscribers receive the entire offering on all channels and the printed edition of their newspaper.