Larissa M. Bieler becomes director of SWI Swissinfo.ch

At the request of Director General Gilles Marchand, the SRG Board of Directors appointed Larissa M. Bieler as the new Director of SWI at its meeting on September 19, in addition to her function as Editor-in-Chief. Swissinfo.ch elected. The dual function is made possible by a new organization of the SWI management team. Reto Gysi von Wartburg is Larissa Bieler's deputy editor-in-chief, and Peter Zschaler remains deputy director.

Larissa Bieler was elected Editor-in-Chief of SWI Swissinfo.ch in June 2015 and took up her post at the beginning of 2016. Bieler has thematically sharpened the international profile of the ten-language platform - with core topics such as direct democracy, Geneva International or global Switzerland expertise. She has strengthened the relationship with specific user groups by forming global communities. Larissa M. Bieler comments: "Switzerland is strongly networked globally, shapes foreign countries, exerts influence and is dependent on foreign countries. This is where we can make our mark with an independent Swiss perspective and position ourselves strongly in journalistic terms with reliable information."

Gilles Marchand: "I am very pleased that we have been able to win Larissa Bieler, an experienced and excellently networked journalist, as our new Director. She will further develop SRG's well-established international service."

Larissa M. Bieler studied German, economics and politics at the University of Zurich. Before and after study visits to Paris and Mannheim, she worked as a freelancer for the Bündner Tagblatt and various Bündner media. In July 2013, Bieler took over as editor-in-chief of the Bündner Tagblatt, which she repositioned thanks to extensive reorganization measures.

SWI Swissinfo.ch has been fulfilling the Swiss government's mandate to provide information abroad for more than ten years, complementing the online offerings of SRG's radio and television stations. Today, the SRG service is primarily aimed at an international audience interested in Switzerland, as well as at the Swiss abroad. The platform conveys a specifically Swiss overall view as well as Swiss viewpoints on international events and developments. In addition, SWI also reflects the view of foreign countries on Switzerland and its positions. SWI's thematic focus is on politics, economics, culture, society and science. SWI Swissinfo.ch has offices in Bern (headquarters), Geneva and Zurich. Additional workstations are located at the Bundeshaus production center in Bern. (ots)