Tamedia saves 24 people
Tamedia is cutting costs at its two newspaper titles in French-speaking Switzerland. 24 journalists are being laid off, 16 at 24 Heures and eight at Tribune de Genève.
The reason for this is the decline in advertisements. 24 Heures and the Tribune de Genève (TdG) suffered a 14 percent decline in advertising in 2016 compared to 2015, and the drop in revenue has accelerated since the beginning of 2016, Tamedia announced on Tuesday. As a result, the publishing house said it was forced to increase the number of cuts at the two titles. In addition, restructuring is planned, which would have to be tackled immediately.
The two editors-in-chief, Thierry Meyer of 24 Heures and Pierre Ruetschi of TdG, also justified the reorganization and closer cooperation in the digital area with a change in reading habits. They said it was regrettable that there would be redundancies, but newspapers could not avoid adapting in view of the structural upheavals in the media industry.
Thinner during the week
Starting in the first quarter of 2017, the two headlines intend to cooperate more in the Switzerland, International, Business, Culture and Sports sections and thus save resources. In the local and regional sections, on the other hand, the content is to be upgraded and consolidated with more research and analysis. In line with changing reading habits, the print editions will be more compact during the week, while the Saturday edition will offer more material to read. In general, even greater attention will be paid to information via online platforms. Tamedia's goal is to maintain journalistic quality and ensure the continued existence of the two titles.
Tamedia is offering support to the affected employees in the form of accompanying measures. However, the media officer of Tamedia Romandie, Patrick Matthey, did not want to go into details when asked. The people affected would be notified in the coming weeks. According to the Zurich headquarters, a total of 24 people are affected in Geneva and Lausanne, out of more than 900 employees Tamedia has in French-speaking Switzerland.
Employees shocked
The employees of 24 heures and TdG expressed their dismay and shock at the "massive" job cuts in their editorial departments. In Geneva, about 200 people gathered at noon for a protest rally, in Lausanne there were about 150 participants. The restructuring threatens the viability of the regional press and the diversity of the media landscape in French-speaking Switzerland, warned the journalists' unions as well as personalities from politics, culture and sports, who expressed solidarity with those affected. The cantonal governments of Geneva and Lausanne, several Vaudois cities and members of parliament also signed an appeal to Tamedia to suspend the announced cost-cutting measures.
Do without redundancies
Tamedia was invited to enter into negotiations with the editorial commissions. The Association of Swiss Journalists Imprint and the Syndicom trade union called on Tamedia to refrain from layoffs and budget cuts. They recalled that Tamedia had made a profit of CHF 334 million in the 2015 financial year and paid group CEO Christoph Tonini CHF 6.1 million. The announced cost-cutting projects on the backs of two important editorial teams in French-speaking Switzerland were unnecessary and damaging to the entire Group, they said.
Tamedia spokesman Matthey defended the layoffs by citing the economicNeed. Tribune de Genève is already writing losses, 24 Heures will beslide into the red in the coming year without additional measures.The measures led to more strongly selected and hierarchizedinformation closer to the reader. The two newspapers wanted originality andoffer high added value.
According to the unions and editorial commissions, a total of 31 journalists are affected by the restructuring: 16 media professionals will be laid off at 24 Heures and eight at Tribune de Genève. In addition, there would be two natural departures and one retirement at 24 Heures and four retirements at Tribunde de Genève. (SDA)
