Four layoffs at the Ticino weekly Il Caffè
The Ticino weekly Il Caffè, owned by the publishers Rezzonico and Ringier, has laid off four employees. The reason given for the layoffs is a drop in advertising revenues.
Two technical employees and two journalists have been dismissed, publisher Giò Rezzonico announced on Monday. He is Group CEO of Rezzonico Editore, which publishes the Sunday newspaper Il Caffè in Ticino together with Ringier.
The two media companies each own 50 percent of the shares in the weekly newspaper. According to Rezzonico, Il Caffè is particularly affected by the loss of revenue in the advertising market because the newspaper has no subscribers. The editorial team, including the editor-in-chief, now consists of six employees, Rezzonico said.
He emphasized that there was no connection between the dismissals and the criminal proceedings against four journalists. None of the dismissals that were made concerned employees who had been criminally prosecuted.
Only last week it became known that the Ticino public prosecutor's office had issued penal orders against four Il Caffè journalists. They had reported on a doctor's malpractice and subsequently faced criticism from the clinic in question. They are accused of "unfair competition" and repeated defamation. The newspaper has already announced that it will take action against the penalty notices. Therefore, it is likely to come to a trial.
The media union Syndicom described the job cuts in a press release as a "declaration of death" for investigative journalism. The diversity of information, which is guaranteed by small editorial offices, is increasingly in danger. The days of critical and uncomfortable journalism are numbered. (SDA)
