Award-winning Swiss news organization ends publication
Paywalls, paid subscriptions, many advertisements, a newsroom filled with reporters, editors and publishers: These are words that are often associated with community newspapers, but not for the Swiss online newspaper, Geneva Lunch.
According to Hello Switzerland, a Switzerland guide that’s been in publication since 1998, “Geneva Lunch [was] an online community newspaper which provided Swiss related news for the Swiss Romande region in English.”
Geneva Lunch’s Story
This online newspaper began in 2006 by Swiss journalist and author, Ellen Wallace, and ended in 2016. The site was officially shut down about a month ago. According to Wallace, “For ten years, GenevaLunch.com was the only free and independent weekday online news service in English, produced entirely in Switzerland.”
It was run mainly by Wallace with the help of about 40 volunteers — students included — and, for a short time, featured minimal advertisements for the site. However, those advertisements only lasted for a short period of time due to them being “time-consuming.”
Wallace explains that the main reason Geneva Lunch had to “say goodbye” was because of the lack of money coming in.
“It was too much work and too little money, even though we provided a valuable community service for seven to eight years,” Wallace said in an email interview.
Although this community newspaper is no longer in publication, Wallace didn’t give up easily.
“I kept going because it was — still is — very much appreciated as a steady stream of messages from readers have made clear over the years,” Wallace said in a goodbye note to her readers on February 10, 2016.
Wallace’s dedication to this news publication showed as she was awarded the British Swiss Chamber of Commerce 2011 business award for the Unsung Hero category for community service, according to her Facebook page.
“Meanwhile, the ‘Unsung Hero’ award proved a competitive title. It was reserved for an individual who has made a substantive and underappreciated contribution to the business community. The award demanded the talent of a champion and the conduct of a modest leader. Journalist Ellen Wallace was rewarded for her selfless, ‘behind the scenes’ work for the British-Swiss community.” –Swiss Style Magazine
She wanted people to feel like they had a say and would have a variety of people telling stories. She connected the community to the news by having them help her write it.
Wallace’s newspaper allowed for citizens to shine a light on stories important to them by allowing volunteers to write for her. Because of this, citizen journalism played an integral role in sharing the voices of the Swiss community. She also produces her stories in English because she realizes that many people speak it and wants to connect with as many people as possible.
According to her Facebook page, her mission is “To provide intelligently crafted, credibly sourced news articles and links to quality media sites to help readers stay informed about life in Switzerland.”
Since concluding Geneva Lunch, Wallace has not given up on that mission and continues her journalistic pursuit to tell stories of importance to her.
Wallace After Geneva Lunch
Wallace is channeling that passion to tell community stories in her new affiliate online community newspaper, Ellen World Wine. Ellen World Wine is focused on reviewing and traveling to learn about wine. It started in 2012 as a companion to Geneva Lunch and is still going strong today.
“I’m in the busiest period of the year,” Wallace said in an email. “I do almost exclusively wine writing now with quite a bit of travel.”
Ellen World has become Wallace’s brand. Along with Ellen World Wine, Wallace publishes and is the sole writer for Ellen World News, Ellen World Books, and Ellen World Gardens. These sites remain free of advertisements.
This is possible because of the newspaper culture in Switzerland.
According to the World Press Freedom Index, Switzerland is ranked seven out of 180 countries for press freedom, whereas the United States is ranked 43. The country is also ranked higher than the United States when it comes down to the Human Development Index.
The Human Development Index measures “the richness of human life, rather than simply the richness of the economy in which human beings live. It is an approach that is focused on people and their opportunities and choices.”
The United States is ranked №10, but Switzerland is ranked №2, according to that index. The Hofstede country comparisons backs that up. The United States is ranked higher for power distance, but is only ranked two points higher than Switzerland when it comes to indulgence. People are more equal in Switzerland and still treat themselves about the same when it comes to indulgence.
Wallace’s former online community newspaper, Geneva Lunch, embodied the news culture in Switzerland. It represented the people by the people, and although it had to eventually end, Wallace continues to tell stories of importance to her.
