Fathi Derder resigns as editor-in-chief of L'Agefi
Fathi Derder is stepping down as editor-in-chief of the French-Swiss business newspaper L'Agefi effective July 31. The Vaud-based FDP National Council member plans to devote himself to new projects, the publishing company announced on Monday.
The financially troubled business newspaper L'Agefi made a fresh start at the end of May 2017 with a new investor and Fathi Derder as the new editor-in-chief. Now, after only 13 months, Derder has already decided to leave the daily newspaper.
He remains convinced that there is room for a newspaper devoted mainly to economic and financial information, the 47-year-old FDP National Councilor said in response to a question from the Keystone-SDA news agency. But in the format he had envisioned, the necessary conditions for a sustained revival no longer existed, he said.
The current editor-in-chief of L'Agefi's online edition, Luc Petitfrère, will take over as editorial director ad interim from mid-June. He will lead an editorial team of 13 journalists.
Role model Spotify
In addition to his political work, Derder has meanwhile set his sights on other projects, as he explained when asked. Together with Philippe Nantermod, a member of the Valais FDP National Council, he is discussing the feasibility of a joint platform for several media on the model of Spotify, the Swedish music, audio book and video streaming service. He said contact was being made with the two most important publishers in German-speaking Switzerland. In principle, there is interest, Derder said.
Derder has spent most of his journalistic career at Radio Suisse Romande (RTS). He also headed the private television station La Télé in Fribourg-Vaud and worked for various newspapers in French-speaking Switzerland. Derder has been a member of the National Council since 2011.
