Frédéric Julliard succeeds Pierre Ruetschi at the helm of the Tribune de Genève

For almost twelve years, Pierre Ruetschi has contributed to the success of the Tribune de Genève and consolidated its position as a reference medium in the Geneva region. He always gave clear priority to those topics that were particularly important for the region and the local population. In addition, editorial quality and in-depth and classified reporting were of great concern to him. Pierre Ruetschi also accompanied the digitization of the Tribune de Genève, in particular with the launch of the paid digital subscription in 2015 and the restructuring of the editorial team implemented in 2016, which made it possible to create more capacity for digital content.

Pierre Ruetschi studied political science at the University of Geneva and at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva. He entered journalism in 1984 at the Associated Press agency in Berne, later moving to the Tribune de Genève. From 1995 to 2000, he worked for the Tribune de Genève and 24 heures as a correspondent to Washington. In 2001, he was appointed deputy editor-in-chief and head of multimedia at the Geneva daily, where he has served as editor-in-chief since October 2006.

Frédéric Julliard, a native of Geneva, has worked for the Tribune de Genève since 2007. Between 2008 and 2012, he was deputy section editor and later head of the local section. In 2013, he became deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper and has since headed the digital section. Frédéric Julliard holds a master's degree in literature and participated in the Investigative Journalism Summer Workshop at Columbia University - Graduate School of Journalism.

Tamedia at the helm since 2010

The Tribune de Genève had belonged to the media company Edipresse in Lausanne since 1991. From 2010, Tamedia gradually took over its media activities in Switzerland. The circulation of the Tribune de Genève amounts to around 36,000 copies. The news portal is published jointly with the editorial office of 24 heures which also belongs to Tamedia. In French-speaking Switzerland, the Group also publishes the Sunday newspaper Le Matin Dimanche and the free newspaper 20 minutes out. The printed edition of Le Matin Tamedia only discontinued in July.

No joy for the editors

The departure of the editor-in-chief of Tribune de Genève does not go down well with journalists. "Pierre Ruetschi is someone who has fought for the newspaper for twelve years," Antoine Grosjean, a member of the editorial commission, told Keytone-SDA. The change comes at a time when the ongoing labor dispute is causing tension in Tamedia's editorial offices in western Switzerland.

"We are already destabilized by what has happened in recent months, and this latest event does not give us confidence," Grosjean said. "Just recently, four people left the newsroom. Tamedia managers promised to replace them, but continue to wait."

Julliard is a respected and competent person, Grosjean emphasized. However, the editorial representative expressed the fear that the new editor-in-chief would continue to be responsible for the local section in parallel. This would be too much for one person. (pd/hae/SDA)