20 Minutes, Switzerland’s free commuter newspaper, appeared in print for the last time on Tuesday, ending a 26-year run, reported the newspaper. Its publisher, TX Group, had announced the decision in the summer. The closure also consigns to history the blue distribution boxes that once stood at railway stations and tram stops across the country.
The paper marked the occasion with a special farewell edition, distributed in German-, French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland. The issue looked back on the publication’s own history. Some of the trademark blue boxes, readers were told, will live on in museum collections.
Launched in December 1999, 20 Minutes helped to reshape Switzerland’s media landscape. Long before digital platforms reached mass audiences, it made news available to commuters at no cost. At its peak, almost 600,000 copies a day were stacked in the distribution boxes; teams of young distributors in branded jackets handed out additional bundles at stations.
Rivals came and went — among them Metropol, .CH, Blick am Abend and News. The economics of print eventually caught up with 20 Minutes too. Falling print advertising revenues made the model unsustainable, and the title will now exist only as a website and an app. With its departure, Switzerland loses its last printed free daily newspaper.
Early on, 20 Minutes also built a strong online presence, which eases the transition. Other publishers have reached the same conclusion: Le News abandoned print more than a decade ago after deciding that the costs of printing and distribution outweighed the benefits of a 30,000-copy run.
The end of the print edition marks the close of a chapter in commuter journalism — and a reminder of how thoroughly the internet has upended the economics of free news.
More on this:
20 Minutes article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.