Lucerne remains the main location of the journalism school Maz

The Maz felt snubbed by the canton of Lucerne. In March of this year, the cantonal council removed the operating contribution of CHF 50,000 from the 2012 budget to save money. This decision to make savings caused a stir among the Maz management. Not least because the Canton of Lucerne is the founding canton of the School of Journalism and is represented on the Board of Trustees. The Maz therefore felt that Lucerne was no longer properly committed to the institution. It thought about moving away. Several regions expressed interest.

However, the Department of Education and Culture of the Canton of Lucerne has now indicated ways in which the loss of the annual lump sum compensation for the duration of the cantonal relief program could be partially compensated for by service contracts, among other things, the Maz announced on Thursday. The decision on the location was not an easy one, said Foundation Board President Iwan Rickenbacher on request. It had been difficult to check out all possible options. However, they have now made a conscious decision in favor of the Lucerne location. Rickenbacher emphasized that the city of Lucerne as well as numerous institutions and personalities had also campaigned for the School of Journalism to remain in Lucerne. And: the students rated the infrastructure, environment and accessibility in Lucerne very positively. In connection with the relocation considerations, Maz has made "intensive clarifications" with representatives from Basel and Aargau in recent weeks.

The focus was on cooperation with university institutions, which "can flourish until the realization of an external partial location of the Maz", according to the press release. This is also because cooperation with the University of Lucerne, for example, is "not easy", said Rickenbacher. (SDA)