Editor-in-chief of La Quotidiana has received notice of dismissal
Martin Cabalzar, editor-in-chief of the only Romansh daily newspaper La Quotidiana, has received notice from the media company Somedia in Chur to resign at the end of the year. Cabalzar has worked for the troubled Romansh paper for 20 years, 19 of them as editor-in-chief.
The information about the termination disseminated by Rhaeto-Romanic Radio and Television (RTR) on Thursday was confirmed by 61-year-old Martin Cabalzar at the request of the news agency SDA. He spoke of a formal termination. Cabalzar hopes that money will be raised to continue publishing the Romansh paper daily next year.
Somedia has been publishing the newspaper since 1997, but the fourth-language paper has been struggling with problems for some time, with circulation dropping from an initial 8,000 copies to 4,000 in the meantime. The Somedia media company, which also owns Werbewoche, put pressure on the paper at the end of March. In a letter to the Graubünden cantonal government and the Romansh news agency ANR, it requested an additional 300,000 francs per year. The amount roughly corresponds to the deficit of La Quotidiana, which the Chur-based media house is only willing to bear until the end of 2017.
Therefore, a solution is currently being sought in Graubünden and at the federal level. It is confident that a solution can be found for La Quotidiana, said editor-in-chief Cabalzar. According to his own statements, he has been working for the Somedia media house for 30 years. (SDA)
