MARC LETTAU What do readers think of “Swiss Review”? Our publisher, the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), aims to get an accurate answer to this question every four years with its comprehensive, expert-led reader survey. We have now seen the results of the 2024 survey, which was conceived and conducted by the Zurich-based social and market researcher Jörg Schneider. Containing over 100 individual questions, the survey not only gives a detailed insight into how people engage with our magazine and what our readers want. It is also our report card. And the verdict among readers is overwhelmingly positive. This is very good to know. In particular, our readers think our magazine’s credibility is one of its biggest assets – 96 per cent specify this as a quality, with 60 per cent giving us the top rating. Our editorial line also earns praise: 90 per cent believe that “Swiss Review” is politically balanced. In terms of the magazine’s overall score, 86 per cent rate us as “good” or give us the top mark of “very good”. Four per cent give us a negative rating. We notice that our online readers mark “Swiss Review” a little less euphorically than those who read the print edition. Report-style pieces are clearly our most popular form of content, while readers consider nature and the environment to be the most important content area. Based on the 4,000-plus questionnaires that were evaluated, it is safe to say that our readers also regard “Swiss Review” as an emotional bridge to Switzerland and not just as a source of information: 71 per cent say that the magazine strengthens their ties to Switzerland, while two-thirds view “Swiss Review” as their guide to contemporary Switzerland. For 24 percent, “Swiss Review” is the only source of news and information from Switzerland. Feedback leads to improvements Readers are of course entitled to ask whether we actually act on their feedback. Taking the results of the previous survey in 2020 into account – yes, we do. The magazine’s photos and the look and feel of the front page – identified as a weakness back then – were rated much higher by readers in A good report card – helping us to improve According to the results of our latest reader survey, conducted in 2024, “Swiss Review” is first and foremost a credible source of information and an important link to Switzerland for its readers around the world. 2024. The same applies to certain aspects of the magazine’s content, where we took heed of readers who said in 2020 that they wanted greater focus on social topics as well as nature and the environment. The magazine now scores significantly higher in terms of its content mix. The results of the 2020 and 2024 survey also show detailed differences in how readers rate us on specific pages of the magazine. For example, “Switzerland in figures” has emerged from relative obscurity to become a firm favourite. Other pages fare worse than they did in 2020. This demonstrates why we want to conduct reader surveys in the first place, i.e. we – the editorial team and the publisher – can take on the feedback and work on areas where there is room for improvement. A good report card is not an invitation for us to rest on our laurels. Draw Everyone who took part in the survey also had the chance to take part in our free draw, with over 90 prizes up for grabs. The draw has now been made and the lucky winners notified. Our front pages are an obvious example of how the “Swiss Review” editorial team has taken feedback on board. Following the 2020 survey, the cover page was given a makeover and now has a fresh new look. Readers have noticed, giving it a much better mark four years on. 27 A word from the editor
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