The Price of Print Purism

In an era dominated by digital acceleration, refusing to adapt to the internet is either an act of principled defiance or a slow exercise in economic self-sabotage. For nearly half a century, the bilingual Swiss weekly Biel Bienne chose to test that precise boundary.

At the end of this year, the publication will print its final issue. Gassmann Media officially cited falling advertising revenues, shifting reading habits, and rising logistics costs as the cause of the paper's demise. The decision marks the end of an intriguing, if ultimately doomed, regional media experiment.

Founded in 1978 by journalist and filmmaker Mario Cortesi alongside a group of idealists, Biel Bienne was launched to disrupt the local media monopoly held by the Gassmann publishing house. The concept was straightforward: a free weekly delivered directly to every local mailbox, strictly bilingual, displaying German content on the left page and French on the right. Operating initially without capital, the paper spent its early years paying its journalists poorly while struggling to gain a financial foothold.

Navigating commercial pressures was a recurring theme. After Cortesi produced an anti-smoking film in the 1980s, corporate tobacco giant Philip Morris pulled its advertising entirely, dealing a severe blow to the paper's fragile revenue model. Despite such setbacks, Biel Bienne established itself as a regional staple, eventually reconciling with its corporate rival Gassmann in the 1990s to jointly establish local television and radio outlets.

What ultimately brought down the publication, however, was not corporate boycotts but an uncompromising refusal to go online. Cortesi eschewed modern technology, operating without a smartphone and maintaining a strict print-only policy for the editorial team. In Switzerland’s prosperous environment, such romantic stubbornness can survive longer than market logic suggests. Yet goodwill alone cannot subsidize paper, printing presses, and postal fees when advertisers move on. When the math no longer works, even the most persistent print dinosaurs are forced off the stage.

Written by Sandy van Dongen sandy.vandongen@alpineweekly.com