A 20 year adventure.

Since its first issue 20 years ago, Swiss News has evolved into Switzerland's only English news publication, with a diverse and multicultural, ever-growing readership. Publisher Remo Kuhn shares his experiences and vision for Swiss News with Aradhna Sethi.

Swiss News: Swiss News is your brainchild. What motivated you to set up this publication?

Remo Kuhn: When I moved to Zurich with my British wife, our circle of friends was mainly English-speaking. It didn't take long for me to realize how little these well educated people, employed at high positions, knew about what was going on in this country where they lived and worked. I was completely stunned!

Then at one of our meetings, sometime in 1982, I happened to mention Swiss Federal Railways' (SBB) introduction of the hourly timetable whereby you could take a train anywhere in Switzerland, in any direction, at a fixed time. This was a major achievement for the SBB and had been in the news for weeks. You could see ads all over--in print, on hoardings, on the radio and television. But no one at this gathering seemed to have heard of it! It was Then that my wife suggested I start a kind of expatriates bulletin.

SN: What was the initial response in terms of subscriptions?

Kuhn: At first--in September 1982--we published about 30 thousand introductory copies of Swiss News, which was then a glossy magazine known as SwissScene. From December 1982, the magazine took off as a regular monthly with some 1,300 subscriptions. Since then--despite a name and then a format change--our readership has grown steadily.

SN: Why did you change Swiss News from a glossy magazine to a tabloid?

Kuhn: I decided to increase the editorial budget and product circulation. For cost reasons, I couldn't have done this while retaining the glossy magazine format.

In addition, the kiosk organizations guaranteed that turning Swiss News into a news tabloid would give it better visibility at newsstands. Earlier, as a magazine, Swiss News was often found amid exotic magazines of all different origins and languages. In the newspaper format, we were assured that it would be placed in front along with other foreign newspapers. So far, the new strategy has worked. Our circulation has increased by 30 per cent compared to last year and we produce a significantly higher number of editorial pages each month.

SN: What is your future vision for Swiss News?

Kuhn: We are the only English newspaper in Switzerland and the readers are our top priority. Swiss News improves constantly in terms of editorial content and layout. In fact, with this very issue, we have improved the paper quality. And by constantly improving the product, I intend to see the circulation rise to over 20,000 copies. In addition to reaching more people living here, this will also give us a better position in the advertising market.

SN: What's your take on Swiss News?

Kuhn: Swiss News has survived many difficult times, as it is not a major marketing tool for advertisers here. But unlike nearly a dozen other English publications that have come and gone over the last 50 years, I'm proud to say that we have not only survived--we are on the growth track, especially as of the last three-and-a-half years.

Through Swiss News I get to meet many interesting people from varied backgrounds. With Swiss News, I feel free to publish anything of interest, no limits, no strings... a freedom that I do not have with the other professional publications I produce.

For me, Swiss News has always been more of an adventure than a business venture!

RELATED ARTICLE: Two Different Worlds

FRENCH AND GERMAN SWITZERLAND

Remo Kuhn cites how different the Swiss in the French and German parts of the country are. At one of the Swiss News promotions, he saw the Swiss News hoarding with the following remarks scribbled over it:

In Geneva a poster asking "What's On In Switzerland?" was spray-painted with "Ici en parle francais" while in Zurich, the same day, an identical poster was adorned with the comment: "nothing".