Newspapers in the Corona crisis – There’s only a quiet whisper in the forest of leaves – News story

“We have to be able to save in the short term”

This is a measure of austerity, as Pascal Hollenstein frankly admits. Hollenstein is Head of Journalism at CH Media, a media association to which the “Luzerner Zeitung” and its regional editions belong. “Like all privately funded media, we are currently in high demand and we have to take steps to save in the short term,” he says. The Luzerner Zeitung already went to work in the short term on April 1.

Printing and distribution costs are eliminated.

If the May 1 issue is canceled, a large chunk of editorial staff can be relieved for at least a day, aside from online editorial staff, who continue to deliver content, Hollenstein says. Print production could also be suspended for one day, printing costs and also distribution costs were eliminated. “In the end, this results in a substantial amount that can be saved.”

Subscribers shouldn’t get less for their money, says Pascal Hollenstein. Your subscription will last one day and the newspaper’s online paid portal and its regional editions will also load with content on May 1.

Fewer ads even with small sheets

Smaller local newspapers also face difficulties. The “free Swiss” in Küssnacht am Rigi, for example, only appears once a week instead of twice as before. The problem here too: a massive drop in ads. “We have a decrease of about 40 percent,” says co-editor-in-chief Fabian Duss. And at the same time, this image is still graced: the cantonal elections in late March still brought election announcements, as have the district elections and the second vote for the governing council since mid-May. “Without these election announcements, it would look even darker,” says Duss.

There is no longer work for freelancers

The consequence of this: The editorial staff of “Free Swiss” has also been switched to short-term work. “We have to do our journalistic work in a crisis like now,” says Fabian Duss. The effects of the crown pandemic are drastic for freelancers at the local newspaper: “For them, who primarily cover the weekend’s social events, they’ve had almost no work for several weeks,” says co-editor-in-chief Duss.

People read the newspapers more intensely

Ads separate, but at the same time readers’ interest in local newspapers increases. From online use and feedback, it can be seen that people have more time to read the newspaper, says, for example, Guido Eberhard, Managing Director of “Surseer Woche AG”. It wasn’t easy to do this justice: her newspaper had also posted short-term jobs.

Exactly like the “Willisauer Boat.” But the publishing pace is maintained twice a week, says editor-in-chief Stefan Calivers. “We try to accelerate thoroughly and not let the newspaper thin out,” he says. “With this we want to signal to the people that we are still there, especially at a time when the newspaper is read with a little more precision than usual.”

The news landscape in central Switzerland is going through difficult times. The crisis has not yet threatened the company’s existence, says Free Swiss. But, co-editor in chief Fabian Duss says: “It all depends on how long the crisis will last. And how fast and how well the situation will recover on the advertising page ».

Bug fixes: In a first version of this article, we mistakenly posted an image of publicist Markus Somm instead of the image of CH Media NZZ regional media news director Pascal Hollenstein. We apologize for this error.