blogs a la 1: blogs hit frontpage in switzerland2 min read

have blogs hit the big time in switzerland?

yesterday both blick and le matin bleu featured blog-related stories on their respective frontpages; blick is the biggest selling newspaper in the swiss german part, while le matin bleu is the free paper associated to le matin, blick’s equivalent in the french part of switzerland. sort of.

blick yesterday dedicated page 1, 2 and 3 to a “scandalous” rant dated 7.4. on ueli haldemann’s blog. the editor in chief of national tv station SF had outraged with his critical thoughts on the panini phenomenon. and even though i am myself a collector i agree with most of his reflections, i often feel that this has very much to do with neanderthalian hunter and gatherer instincts, the panini-hype has been pushed tooo far. and panini business practices suck. blick quotes haldemann’s blog-entry on panini in its integrity.

le matin bleu titles: “a woman from geneva earns a living via internet. her blogs earn her 5400 francs a month” [translation mine]. emily turrettini is the subject of that story, the 52 year old american living in geneva, who with her blogs textually, ringtonia and picturephoning apparently makes quite a decent living. turns out we do have a blogger who can live off of their blog in switzerland after all.

of course both newspapers have hidden agendas – blick was instrumental in pushing the current panini mania that has befallen switzerland this year, while le matin bleu is of course trying to push their hosted blog system bleublog. and its prolly just a coincidence that both papers have these stories on their frontpages on the same day. but i still find it quite symbolic somehow.

i am starting to wonder if the hall [volkshaus] we rented for the occasion in biel-bienne will be big enough to hold the swiss blog awards on the 5.5. i still think, that the 450 capacity will be more than enough to hold all the bloggers attending, but maybe the journalists might bumrush the show? too bad haldimann could not follow our invitation to one of our panel discussions.

disclaimer: i of course realise that to write these thoughts on my blog the day after is totally un-bloggy, but boo hoo, there it is. i am slow and stoopid and what else is new. i should also rather be enjoying the last days of my vacation instead of blogging, or should i not? matt was on it in a more blog-worthy manner.