New co-management and imprint back in the black for the first time
At the delegates' meeting in Degersheim, the members of the Impressum professional association confirmed a new dual leadership: Michael Burkard and Etienne Coquoz will take over the management from Urs Thalmann, who has led the association for 20 years. Impressum also approved a budget for 2025 with positive figures - for the first time in several years.
The unanimous confirmation of Michael Burkard and Etienne Coquoz as the new co-heads marks the start of a new chapter for Impressum. The two former Central Secretaries succeed Urs Thalmann, who has led the association for two decades. The co-presidents of Impressum, Caroline Gebhard and Fabienne Sennhauser, paid tribute to Thalmann's commitment and expressed their delight that with Burkard and Coquoz, a bilingual management team is taking over the reins.
Challenges for journalism
The current situation in the Swiss media industry was a key topic at the delegates' meeting. Gebhard referred to the numerous waves of redundancies in the past year - Ringier, ESH Medias, SRG, Le Temps, La Liberté, Tamedia, EMH and CH Media were among those affected. "Impressum stood by its members and the affected employees during each of these redundancies," she emphasized. Individual legal advice is also in high demand: around 220 members made use of the association's legal services in 2024.
The Central Secretariat also campaigned for the harmonization of the press card, measures against SLAPP lawsuits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) and for the preservation of the CCT RRR.
In the black for the first time in years
After several years of negative financial statements, Impressum was able to present a balanced budget for 2025. This was made possible by various "difficult decisions", as they say. Cost-cutting measures were taken, such as reducing contributions to organizations such as the Swiss Press Council, Edito and Maz, as well as not filling vacant positions.
According to Fabienne Sennhauser, however, simply making savings is not enough: "We are also working on improving our funding model, for example by simplifying the admission process for BR members. We are also investing in communication and member recruitment." An initial success: a foundation is supporting Impressum's legal service in the fight against SLAPPs.
Court ruling against Impressum in dispute with SRG
Impressum has been fighting for inclusion as a social partner in the SRG collective labor agreement (CLA) since 2019 - now the court has rejected the association. The reasons are still pending, but the decision sparked a controversial discussion at the meeting, not least because of the high costs of the proceedings. The delegates discussed ways to mobilize the SRG members of Impressum more strongly in order to achieve better cooperation with the existing social partners.
AI statement and debate on local journalism
The delegates overwhelmingly supported a joint declaration on the use of generative AI, which is being drawn up by various organizations associated with the Swiss Press Council.
Finally, the editors-in-chief Reto Stifel (Engadiner Post/Posta Ladina) and Tommaso Manzin (Appenzeller Volksfreund) discussed the future of local journalism with the delegates. Stifel emphasized that "there is no such thing as fake news in local journalism. They are corrected immediately by the readers". Manzin added that "regional anchoring requires a certain form of courage and ethics", because you meet the people you have written about on the street. Despite declining sales figures, print remains central to local newspapers. "Letters to the editor still sometimes play the role of social networks in our regions," says Manzin.
