Maz feels cost pressure from editorial departments and stock market slump
Less income from journalism courses and a loss on financial investments shaped the 2018 results of the Maz media training center in Lucerne. Longer courses offered by the School of Journalism are also feeling the effects of the media crisis.
Course revenue in the journalism division fell by around 8 percent. High cost pressures in newsrooms had a negative impact on demand in the department, according to the annual report published by Maz on Tuesday. Its main offering, the two-year diploma course for journalists, saw a 10 percent decline.
The Maz was unable to offer longer courses such as CAS Specialized Journalism and Visual Journalism or the VJ course due to a lack of registrations. On the other hand, the data journalism course was fully booked right from the start. In contrast to journalism, the communications department grew slightly. Demand here rose by 2.5 percent.
The Maz still took in a total of 5.2 million francs in course fees, 200,000 francs less than in 2017. In addition, there were around 1.3 million francs from school fees from the cantons, contributions from the federal government, donors and the Business Advisory Council, as well as from sponsorship. The bottom line in 2018 was an annual profit of 34,000 francs after 41,000 francs in the previous year.
Because the stock markets closed low at the end of 2018, a loss of 120,000 francs had to be accepted on financial investments, the annual report states. This reduces the profit and the possibility to allocate funds in the amount of previous years. However, the Maz is solidly financed and equipped to respond to future structural changes with innovations and further developments of the offer. (SDA)
