Switzerland is losing two Sunday newspapers - the Zentralschweiz am Sonntag and the Ostschweiz am Sonntag – and ten affiliated jobs, it has been reported.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone SDA/sb
In addition, the Saturday editions of the regional Luzerner Zeitung and St Galler Tagblatt newspapers will be merged into the Schweiz am Wochenende paper, which appears that day.
CH Media, a joint venture between the AZ Medien group and the regional newspapers of the NZZ group, said on Tuesday in a statementExternal link that it had taken the decisions due to a sharp decline in advertising revenue.
A social plan will be implemented for anyone losing their job, the company said. The changes will take effect at the beginning of July.
Launched in December 2017, CH Media employs around 2,200 staff in various regional Swiss newspapers, online news platforms, radio and TV stations and magazines. The merger of the two media groups was cleared by the Competition’s Commission in August 2018, and joint operations started in October 2018.
In November 2018, CH Media announced a cost-savings programme to reduce costs by 10% or CHF45 million ($45 million) over the coming two years which would affect all areas of the company; 200 jobs are expected to be cut.
Tuesday’s announcement is just the latest affecting the Swiss media landscape, which remains turbulent. In recent years, public and private organisations have come under pressure from all sides. This has intensified cost-cutting and cooperation measures, leading to a marked increase in private media concentration, downsizings, and job cuts.
Local newspapers have faced particularly strong pressure, partly because of free newspapers and new online media.
Swiss public broadcaster bucks downward media trend
This content was published on
The overall quality of journalism is dropping in multilingual Switzerland, where newsrooms are shrinking, according to a comprehensive study.
Living longer: What do you think about the longevity trend?
The longevity market is booming thanks in part to advances in the science of ageing. What do you think of the idea of significantly extending human lifespan?
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Heidi News and other niche publishers take the plunge in Geneva
This content was published on
Heidi News, Micro, Global Geneva Insider: swissinfo.ch looks at very different new media ventures in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.
This content was published on
The Swiss media landscape remains of high quality but an “alarmingly high” concentration is a real problem for democracy.
Study links shrinking local media landscape and lower voter turnout
This content was published on
There is a direct connection between the steady disappearance of local newspapers in Switzerland and lower participation in communal votes.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.