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''Die Weltwoche'' (German for "The World Week") is a
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...
weekly
magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
based in
Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
. Founded in 1933, it has been privately owned by
Roger Köppel Roger Jürg Köppel (born 1965) is a Swiss politician, journalist, entrepreneur and publicist. He is currently a member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP). He also holds the position of publisher and editor-in-chief at the right-wing Swiss weekl ...
since 2006. The magazine's regular
columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...
s include the former president of the
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz; SP; rm, Partida Socialdemocrata da la Svizra) or Swiss Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste suisse, it, Partito Socialista Svizzero; PS), is a polit ...
,
Peter Bodenmann Peter Bodenmann (born, 30 March 1952, Lax, Switzerland, Lax, Switzerland) is a Swiss lawyer, entrepreneur and former member of the National Council (Switzerland), National Council for the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP). He was the pr ...
, as well as Christoph Mörgeli MP, a leading figure of the right wing
Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (german: Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP; rm, Partida populara Svizra, PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (french: Union démocratique du centre, UDC; it, Unione Democratica di Centro, UDC), is a nati ...
, and cultural and social commentator Alexander, Count von Schönburg-Glauchau. The magazine's editorial stance under Köppel is considered to range between
economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...
and
conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
– regularly along the lines of the
Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (german: Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP; rm, Partida populara Svizra, PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (french: Union démocratique du centre, UDC; it, Unione Democratica di Centro, UDC), is a nati ...
, as critics allege.


History

Founded 1933 as a weekly newspaper in the mold of French weeklies, it started off somewhat sympathetic to the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
government of Germany, but soon joined the other Swiss media in vigorously opposing it. During the 1980s, the newspaper was led by Rudolf Bächtold and Jürg Ramspeck and owned by Jean Frey Verlag. ''Weltwoche'' remained a fixture of the intellectual environment in Switzerland, publishing articles, columns and interviews on a wide range of topics, including
politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
, the
economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
, culture and science, generally from a center-left perspective. In 1987, Jean Frey Verlag was bought up by notorious entrepreneur and fraudster
Werner Rey Werner Kurt Rey (born October 6, 1943) is a UK-based Swiss businessman, financier and convicted fraudster. In 1976, Rey acquired the fashion house Bally, and subsequently sold it to the Oerlikon Bührle concern, which laid the foundation of his ...
. After the collapse of Rey's holdings in 1991, the publisher was sold to Curti Medien Holding AG, which in 1996 passed to ''
Basler Zeitung ''Basler Zeitung'' (literally: "Basler Newspaper"), or ''BaZ'', is a Swiss German-language regional daily newspaper, published in Basel. History and profile ''Basler Zeitung'' was created in 1977 through the merger of the '' Basler Nachricht ...
''. The last editor in chief before the takeover by Köppel was Fredy Gsteiger (1997 to 2001), under whom the newspaper pursued a general political position of center-left liberalism. Köppel became editor-in-chief in 2001, launching a complete redesign, replacing the broadsheet by a magazine format. Jean Frey AG was now bought by Tito Tettamenti. Köppel replaced most of the editors and re-positioned the magazine as neoliberal and right-wing conservative. In 2003, the new ''Weltwoche'' began to openly support
Christoph Blocher Christoph Wolfram Blocher (; born 11 October 1940) is a Swiss industrialist and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2004 to 2007. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he headed the Federal Department of ...
and his
Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (german: Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP; rm, Partida populara Svizra, PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (french: Union démocratique du centre, UDC; it, Unione Democratica di Centro, UDC), is a nati ...
. This resulted in a decline in sales, and Köppel was replaced by Simon Heusser, in 2005 followed by Jürg Wildberger. In 2006, the ''Weltwoche'' was detached from Jean Frey AG, now published under its own label ''Weltwoche Verlag AG''. The magazine was bought by Köppel, who now also returned as editor-in-chief, resulting in a renewed exodus of much of the editors. Since 2006, the paper has been run by Köppel directly and has acquired a thoroughly right-wing conservative focus. 2015 the editor-in-chief and owner Roger Köppel joined the strong right-wing Swiss People's Party. Shortly after, he was elected for Councillor of the Swiss Parliament and now stands in for the interest of the Swiss People's Party also in Parliament.


Profile and positions

Already distinguishing itself somewhat from the generally liberal, right-conservative, or center-left Swiss media by its general right-wing orientation, the magazine is now especially noted for its interviews with controversial public figures and for the diversity of opinion represented in its pages, with a dominant right-wing view however. For instance, virtually alone among Swiss publications, ''Die Weltwoche'' in 2003 and 2004 printed lengthy articles mainly arguing for the
2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
or the reelection of
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
to the U.S. presidency. The accession of Switzerland to the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
is rejected by the editorial staff, as was Swiss acceptance of the
Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...
. The Weltwoche also represents the view that welfare and other state-administered assistance programs are inherently flawed. Since 2006, ''Die Weltwoche'' has repeatedly actively created controversy and scandal. The magazine is somewhat anti-statist and against an expansion of the welfare state. It also rejects state-subsidized nurseries and childcare. In keeping with its neo-conservative and anti-mainstream positions, the ''Weltwoche'' does not accept the scientific evidence for
global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
and has denounced recent "alarmism" surrounding environmental issues. Internationally – outside of Europe – the ''Weltwoche'' often represents pro-American and pro-Israeli positions. On 12 January 2006, ''Die Weltwoche'' was the first German-speaking publication to reprint some of the controversial cartoons of
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
originally published by the Danish newspaper
Jyllands-Posten ''Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten'' (; English: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to ''Jyllands-Posten'' or ''JP'', is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circula ...
. On 12 May 2010, the main title of the weekly edition of the ''Weltwoche'' was: "Must Islam be Banned?" ("''Muss der Islam verboten werden?''"), the article stating that Muslim religion is incompatible with the
Swiss constitution The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 10; german: Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (BV); french: Constitution fédérale de la Confédération suisse (Cst.); it, Costituzione federale della Confederaz ...
. The front cover of the ''Weltwoche'' of 5 April 2012 published a photograph of a Roma child pointing a gun at a camera under the headline "The Roma are coming". The controversy sparked by this choice of illustration was reported internationally. On 26 June 2012, ''Die Weltwoche'' published an article which lamented the spread of the
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
gene pool The gene pool is the set of all genes, or genetic information, in any population, usually of a particular species. Description A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can surv ...
and falsely claimed that the
Irish Government The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...
requires pre-marital
DNA testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
in an effort to halt supposed widespread
incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...
amongst the Irish who, it was further claimed, have rat-like anatomic features. The article was translated into English and caused controversy in the Irish media.


Circulation

In 1997 ''Die Weltwoche'' had a circulation of 91,142 copies. Between July 2004 and June 2005 the circulation of the magazine was 80,436 copies. It was 82,849 copies between July 2005 and June 2006 and 85,772 copies between July 2006 and June 2007. Its total circulation in 2006 was also 82,849 copies. It became 85,096 copies between July 2007 and June 2008, dropping to 45,519 copies in 2019.https://www.weltwoche.ch/fileadmin/documents/tarife/Tarife_e_2019_4_.pdf


Notes


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weltwoche 1933 establishments in Switzerland Conservatism in Switzerland Conservative magazines News magazines published in Europe German-language magazines Magazines established in 1933 Magazines published in Zürich Political magazines published in Switzerland Weekly magazines published in Switzerland Weekly news magazines