Code name “Säntis”: Right-wing media project aims high

Code name “Säntis”: Right-wing media project aims high

Markus Somm, former editor-in-chief of “Basler Zeitung”, raises money for a news portal that is directed against the “left mainstream”.

Francesco Benini / Switzerland at the weekend

The presentation consists of 42 slides and is called “Säntis”. Markus Somm wants potential investors to pay 100,000 francs for a “first-class news product” that will launch in the first quarter of 2021.

Somm is currently a publicist at Tamedia, was editor-in-chief of the Basler Zeitung, is a member of the FDP and in his comments represents mainly the SVP positions. Since last spring, Somm has tried to raise four million francs as seed money. The title of the new medium should appear “In print and digital,” says the 55-year-old’s presentation.

Convincing 40 people in the Swiss economy to invest 100,000 francs in a media product is a challenge. Somm tries this: «In the media, the left current dominates. Liberal, bourgeois and pragmatic positions are disappearing. “In Switzerland, the bourgeoisie is on the defensive as never before since 1919; at that time, the Social Democrats in the National Council grew strongly due to the shift of the majority to proportional representation.

Now an online news portal that is “liberal-conservative” is supposed to remedy the current misery. It should bring “hard facts”, “background with surprising perspectives”, “direct opinions of the best authors” and also take into account lifestyle issues.

According to Somm, the “Weltwoche” is a “SVP sheet”

Somm mentions that a lot of money has been invested in the “Republic” and “Watson” in recent years; the publicist describes the two online media as “digital publications with a left liberal to markedly left orientation.” Now a counterweight should be created here, so that the left no longer “dictates how we think about our country.”

Somm also notes that there are already outlets in Switzerland that have a similar target group in mind as the planned new title. But the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” is “too fragile, too cerebral” and moves “in the media”. And the “Weltwoche” is considered an “SVP sheet” and has offended too many people.

How should the new news portal generate profits? The presentation shows that Somm, in addition to the initial capital, is based on the so-called scope model. The portal’s advertising revenue should increase with as many users as possible. Given that a large amount of online advertising in Switzerland is booked on portals of American tech giants like Google, the reach model is difficult.

The presentation lists other sources of income, such as native advertising and content commerce. For these activities, in general terms, the incorporation of advertising texts in the editorial section, the establishment of a separate agency is planned. In general, breakeven should be reached after 30 months.

Adjustments to the business model are still expected. Because Peter Wälty, who was supposed to be the online director of the project, withdrew after a dispute with Markus Somm about the organization of the company. Wälty worked in leadership positions for Tamedia and Ringier and is a proven expert in online journalism. It is not clear how Somm is making up for this loss of knowledge: as editor-in-chief of Basler Zeitung, he was primarily responsible for the print edition, not the digital appearance.

Wälty is an advocate of the outreach model and did not want to demand a subscription fee from users of the new portal. Wälty’s departure could now lead to a change in the project. It is also unclear how often and to what extent a print edition should appear. When it was launched two years ago, the online magazine “Republik” announced that a selection of the best texts would soon also appear on paper. But that did not happen. The cost is considerable.

Two bosses and six posts for journalists

Somm wants to keep expenses within limits by keeping the editorial team small. In addition to the two bosses, the business plan only lists six positions for journalists. You will have to write a lot to run a live news portal.

How much money has Somm already raised? “No comment” is all you can get out of it. Somm became editor-in-chief of “Basler Zeitung” after Christoph Blocher bought the Basler media company. Is Blocher now financially involved in the new project? “I am not in the image of a new Markus Somm media project,” Blocher announced. He says that he is not aware that he has participated in such a project.

Will Rolf Dörig raise 100,000 francs for the media project? The president of the companies Swiss Life and Adecco is a member of the Foundation for Civil Policy, which aims, among other things, to provide financial support to the SVP. “No comment,” says Dörig. In a few weeks you should find out if Markus Somm can implement his plan.