Jornod remains Chairman of the Board of Directors of NZZ

Following the turbulence of recent months, the Board of Directors had to prepare for an unpleasant meeting. Two shareholder groups had announced attacks on the company's top management in advance. One group wanted to oust Jornod from office, while the other wanted the Board of Directors to be elected for just one year instead of the previous four. In order to secure voting rights, several NZZ journalists had even bought shares in recent weeks. However, the meeting was "disappointingly normal", one participant told the sda news agency. Although Jornod had to put up with some criticism, he had surprisingly achieved the best result in the re-election.

Jornod was criticized above all in connection with the choice of the new editor-in-chief. The fact that he wanted to appoint Markus Somm, editor-in-chief of the "Basler Zeitung" and close to Christoph Blocher, as successor to Markus Spillmann at the head of the NZZ editorial team also triggered strong reactions within the editorial team. Former NZZ foreign editor Reinhard Meier described the maneuver with "Blocher man Somm" as an attack on the soul of the NZZ and a "terrible lack of political judgment", as the NZZ announced on Twitter. However, his motion to vote Jornod out of office was rejected by a clear majority.

Jornod clearly confirmed

As the term of office for members of the Board of Directors is four years, only three of the nine members had to stand for re-election: In addition to Chairman Jornod, these were Christoph Schmid and Bernd Kundrun. All three were confirmed in their positions with clear majorities. The four-year term of office also remained unchanged. A proposal by the "Friends of NZZ" shareholder group led by Erhard Lee, Oliver Benz and Edwin van der Geest to limit the term of office to one year and amend the Articles of Association accordingly did not receive a majority. The existing model with staggered four-year terms of office has the advantage that it allows for regular renewal while maintaining consistency, according to an NZZ press release. This allows the Board of Directors to develop a long-term view together and thus contributes to securing the economic and political independence of the medium.

Sharp criticism as a welcome

The shareholders were greeted by former members of the editorial team with a flyer. The group without voting rights struck an unusually sharp tone. The Board of Directors and company management were accused of leading the former "flagship of the Swiss press" into a crisis, exposing it to ridicule and irresponsible risks.

The NZZ has been in turmoil since last November, when it was announced that the printing plant in Schlieren would be closed (Werbewoche.ch reported). As a result, 125 employees will lose their jobs in the middle of the year. The Board of Directors around Jornod made even more negative headlines in Decemberwhen NZZ editor-in-chief Markus Spillmann had to leave and it became known that he was to be replaced by the editor-in-chief of the Basler Zeitung and Christoph Blocher's close associate Markus Somm should be replaced. Due to the public pressure and protests, a month ago a new Internal solution found. Eric Gujer, Head of Foreign Affairs, was appointed Editor-in-Chief. He admitted at the General Assembly that the last few months had been stressful for the editorial team. However, the vast majority of journalists are now looking to the future. (SDA)