When media outlets feel the financial pinch, local newspapers are the first to fold. This has concerning implications for democracy. Yet the “Unter-Emmentaler” is 150 years old and still going strong amid the cuts.
Arrive at the headquarters of the “Unter-Emmentaler” in Huttwil (canton of Berne) and a Schürch Druck & Medien AG employee will take you through the noisy printing room, then up the steep, winding wooden stairs at the back of the building until you reach the editorial office – a small meeting room in which portraits of the paper’s founding family hang on the wall. Established in 1875, “Unter-Emmentaler” has remained in family hands to this day. When recently advertising an editorial job, it described itself as “one of the last remaining independent local newspapers in Switzerland”.
Most of the desks are unoccupied on this snowy November afternoon. The journalists are out chasing stories. Six editorial staff work the equivalent of 5.1 full-time employees, with 10 freelancers helping them to publish two editions a week. The paper’s catchment area partially covers the Emmental Valley and the Oberaargau district in the canton of Berne as well as the Lucerne hinterland. Walter Ryser, an experienced local journalist, knows this part of the world like the back of his hand.
As the company’s media manager, Ryser gives strategic advice to senior management in addition to writing articles for the newspaper. He also runs his own small advertising agency and is involved in cultural and sport associations. Ryser describes the region as rural and conservative. “Traditions are important here,” he says. “The pace of life is sedate, offering a fertile ground for local journalism.” But people from the town of Langenthal also read the “Unter-Emmentaler”. “Langenthal is a world away from Huttwil,” explains Ryser’s colleague Thomas Peter, who is the paper’s chief editor.
Such diversity within a small area is typical of Switzerland. “We do a journalistic balancing act,” says Peter. With aplomb, he might add. “None of the big publications bother with local journalism,” says Ryser, with a nod to the developments of the last 20 years. For a long time, Switzerland boasted an intricate media landscape that formed an important part of the federal system. Yet the rise of online media since the turn of the millennium has brought about the demise of business models around the country. Cost cutting and mergers have hit local journalism in particular.
At least 70 publications went out of print between 2003 and 2021. Newspapers have been discontinued or integrated into the centralised news desks of large media groups like Zurich-based Tamedia, which also owns publications in French-speaking Switzerland and the canton of Berne. Last autumn, Tamedia announced further significant job cuts and more mergers, the company’s stated aim being to “grow strategically in the digital world” with its stable of major publications. A storm of criticism greeted the announcement in affected regions right across the country – including Emmental-Oberaargau, home of the “Langenthaler Tagblatt”. In recent years, this once independent newspaper has been published as a regional variant of the Tamedia-owned “Berner Zeitung”, which has now swallowed it up entirely.
Walter Ryser from the “Unter-Emmentaler” used to be the chief editor of the “Langenthaler Tagblatt”. He always thought cutting local content was a big mistake. “I cannot believe how the media get away with it,” he says. “People want to know what’s happening in their village.” There is a need for quality local journalism. This is what the Huttwil-based company has invested in over the last few years: slightly increasing its editorial staff and extending its radius. The editorial policy remains print-first, with the paper’s website and Facebook page also offering content.
Articles containing the latest in-depth local news make up 80 per cent of the editorial content – whether this be Melchnau getting to keep its cheese dairy, locals voting to increase municipal funding for the ice rink in Huttwil, or plans to build a fire museum in Affoltern. The editors put a great deal of work into visiting events, researching stories and interviewing people across the region. They never miss any of the region’s public assemblies at which members of the community vote on local issues – a key pillar of direct democracy in Switzerland. Covering over 40 such assemblies is a huge effort. “But this is what we want to do,” says chief editor Peter.
Studies reveal a decline in political participation and the social fabric whenever the media stops reporting on the issues that affect local communities. Without an independent local media, corruption also grows. According to Peter, the “Unter-Emmentaler” lacks the resources for extensive research. They have no wish to stir up controversy anyway. When issues turn heated, the newspaper simply reports the facts and the views so that readers can make up their own minds. Ryser knows that readers won’t tolerate much more than that. “Otherwise they immediately pick us up on it because it’s not our style.”
The “Unter-Emmentaler” is holding its own. According to the latest audited circulation figures, it has around 4,700 paid subscribers. This number has grown in recent years, bucking the general trend. Local advertisers have consequently remained loyal to the newspaper. Revenues are satisfactory, say management. A large print run of 20,000 copies is distributed every two weeks. As a print media publisher, the company also gets postal concessions.
How has a tiny newspaper been able to brave the digital transformation and the crisis afflicting the media sector? “Papers like the ‘Unter-Emmentaler’ are still able to employ the business model that is dying out at cross-regional and national level, which relies on a mix of funding from subscription and advertising revenue,” explains media journalist Nick Lüthi. This is because there are no alternatives for readers or advertisers, and because these local publications continue to provide a service that people use and appreciate. “Tamedia newspapers no longer offer as much depth as the ‘Unter-Emmentaler’ can afford to do.” Furthermore, the village butcher and the farm shop around the corner can reach their target audience more effectively with an ad in the local paper than through an online campaign.
Politicians lament how Tamedia has pared back local journalism in their region, which is why they applaud how the “Unter-Emmentaler” is able to report on stories in their respective municipalities. “It reports on events, functions and official communications that would no longer reach our communities otherwise,” says the mayor of Langenthal, Reto Müller, who is less enamoured by the direct affiliations – political and sporting – of some individuals at the newspaper. He would like them to drop these ties.
Hans Peter Baltensperger, who has been the mayor of Wyssachen for years, believes that the “Unter-Emmentaler” fulfils an extremely important role, without which his little village would barely register in the media anymore. Citizens need to stay informed for local politics to work, he says. Big media outlets report on world events. “You need local newspapers for local news.” As a gesture of solidarity, Baltensperger’s haulage company helps to fund newspaper ads for local clubs and associations – which is good for the “Unter-Emmentaler”.
The people at Schürch Druck & Medien are confident that their business model for the printed newspaper will remain viable. In a catchment area with 45,000 or so inhabitants, it should be possible to keep the proportion of subscribers at 10 per cent or more, says Ryser, who notes that younger people are also starting to reconnect with old traditions. “Our 150-year-old newspaper is a piece of local heritage.” One that is also read by expats, who now subscribe to the “Unter-Emmentaler” from around the world.
In urban areas in particular, new online media is helping to fill the gap in local journalism left by the big publishers. Independent platforms like “hauptstadt.be”, “tsüri.ch”, and “bajour.ch” are trying to disrupt the media landscape, building their own reader communities that pay for content mostly through subscriptions. Foundations provide the start-up capital. However, it is hard for these models to generate sustainable revenue. In 2022, Swiss voters rejected legislation proposing new forms of funding that would have also helped online media. The federal parliament ratified this result during its 2024 winter session. However, lawmakers recognise the importance of regional and local journalism for democracy and have instead decided to bolster indirect funding of the press through postal charges. (SWE)
Berne: www.hauptstadt.be
Zurich: www.tsüri.ch
Basel: www.bajour.ch
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