The U.S. Electoral Campaign: Between hatred and optimism

In-house journal October 2016

At the White House with Barack Obama and Pete Souza The President’s Photographer CONTENTS

4 Only the private quarters are out of bounds Photographer Pete Souza has been accompanying President Barack Obama 18 for eight years. 18 During those years he has shot two million pictures. «Within fve months he’d 4 grown used to me.»

14 The U.S. Electoral Campaign The election of the nominees. Ringier journalists were there in Cleveland and Philadelphia. They saw hatred in the Republicans and optimism in the Democrats.

Focus on Ringier Ringier’s best photos of the last quarter will return in the next issue. You can fnd a selection of the best pictures on the DomoRingier Facebook page.

18 Interview German lawyer Christian Schertz represents celebrities versus the media. He has occasionally been dubbed the «Censorship Taliban».

22 «An epiphany» Virtual reality will revolutionize the media world, says Sebastian Pfotenhauer. His team developed the Blick VR app. 26 24 Inhouse This is how the Blick Group VR app works: put on the cardboard glasses, and you are sitting in the cockpit!

26 Ringier meets the stars DOMO author René Haenig is at a Los Angeles restaurant. The woman at the next table is exceptionally pretty – she even winks at him. Haenig, however, does not notice he is sitting next to a superstar. The October 28 Michael Ringier Our publisher discusses executives with issue of DOMO as 22 tunnel vision. «You would never employ the likes of Trump at your company. Yet e-magazine you would vote for him.»

30 Anniversaries Retired: Heinz Eugster / recommended reading

Cover photo: Ofcial White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson

Publishing Information 14 Publisher: Ringier AG, Corporate Communica- tions. Executive Director: Edi Estermann, CCO, Dufourstrasse 23, 8008 Zürich. Editor-in-chief: Alejandro Velert. Contributors: Ulli Glantz and Markus Senn (visual realization) Bettina Bono, René Haenig, Peter Hossli. Translators: Xavier Pellegrini/Textes.ch (French), Claudia Bodmer (English), Ioana Chivoiu, (Romanian), Lin Chao/ Yuan Pei Translation (Chinese). Proofreading: Peter Hofer, Regula Osman, Kurt Schuiki (German), Patrick Morier-Genoud (French), Claudia Bodmer (English), Mihaela Stănculescu, Lucia Gruescu (Romanian). Layout /Production: Zuni Halpern (Switzerland), Jinrong Zheng (China). Image Editing: Ringier Redaktions-Services Zurich. Print: Ringier Print Ostrava and SNP Leefung Printers. No portion may be reprinted without the editor’s permission. Circulation: 10, 000 copies. DOMO is published in German, French, English, Romanian and Chinese. Photos: Pete Souza/White House Press, Olaf Blecker, Geri Born, Andrew Angerer, Brett Carlsen und Denise Truscello for Getty Images DOMO – October 2016 | 3 «Pete, did you get it?»

Pete Souza has spent eight years following the U.S. President everywhere. As the ofcial White House photographer he has been documenting Barack Obama’s time in ofce. In January 2017 they will part ways. A conversation with the President’s photographer about his job, his boss, and the fruits of his labor: two million photographs for eternity. Interview: Bettina Bono Photos: Pete Souza COVER

Pope Francis is him. The frst four or fve months that about to enter he was President he was still getting unknown terri- used to the notion that I was going to tory; Pete Souza be there all the time and photograph- is already there: ing him. You can imagine what that In September would be like. But after fve months 2015 the Pope it was just a given. He said, OK, this paid his frst visit is a part of my life. to the U.S.A. He was welcomed by The President once said in an interview President Obama that you blend into the background so and his family he sometimes doesn’t even notice you. on the runway Is that a compliment? of Joint Base I think it is. I’m just a part of the Andrews Naval White House apparatus. I come and Air Facility near go and I try to do it in an unobtrusive Washington D.C. way so he can go about his business without being distracted by me. That’s my goal.

Talking about being discrete; have you ever been really overlooked? Yes, I have. A meeting with a gover- nor was supposed to happen after lunch. Instead they did it before lunch but I didn’t know about it. So I came up after my lunch and the gov- ernor was walking out of the Oval Ofce. I started having some words with his secretary, saying - why didn’t you tell me? The President walked out of the Oval Ofce asking what the problem was. I told him. He goes: «What are you talking about? You were in there during the meet- ing.»

Even if it is the President of the United States you have been accompanying so closely – for eight years you have been photographing the same face. How do you manage to stay curious? The other day I was telling a friend I was looking forward to January 20, and she said: «There’s nothing left for you to do at the White House, you’ve done all the pictures that you possi- bly can do.» But two days later, at the opening of the African American Museum in Washington, within 30 seconds I made two of my favorite ashington D.C., Tuesday, 8.30 rier holding up their badges. «You’ll Mr. Souza, I’m wondering about your Why so many? a presidential record – even the bad pictures. One is of President Obama W a.m. The Northwest Appoint- get used to it,» a gentleman says in wall adornment. My job is to visually document the ones. The President doesn’t pick his where former President Bush handed ment Gate of the White House is passing, giving me a friendly pat on (laughs) Yeah. This particular ofce U.S. President’s time in ofce for nose, but if he did, the picture would him a cellphone and said: Can you busy. This is usually where limou- the back. Under the watchful eyes of used to be the White House Barber history. I take pictures that will still be preserved. take a picture of me with this family? sines are admitted to the premises. First Dog Bo I make my way straight Shop. There used to be a White House have validity 500 years from now and So here’s a picture of the President Right now the gardener is bringing to the West Wing of the White House, Barber until the early 90s. When the appear in history books. You began photographing Barack Oba- with a smartphone taking a picture in his equipment. The Secret Service the Executive Ofce Building. This is barber retired they didn’t replace ma during his frst days as a senator in of another President with a family. night shift is going home, and the where photographer Pete Souza, 61, him. The one thing they left was the It it true that none of the pictures you 2004, before he became President. How It’s rare for former Presidents to gath- media correspondents who work at has his ofce. His photographs line mirrors. take may be deleted? did he change as a photographic subject? er; usually it’s the death of a head of the White House are arriving. At the the walls of the hallways. In these That’s true. In this country we have Apart from his gray hair the only state. They’re like a unique club. X-ray scanner it becomes clear who pictures his «Boss» is omnipresent: When you leave the White House you the Presidential Records Act, which thing that changed is that he had to There have only been 43. And 30 has the routine down: They greet the Barack Obama, 54, with heads of will leave behind some two million pho- demands that any correspondence get used to somebody photographing seconds later there’s the Vice Presi-

personnel by their frst name, put state, Obama with his family, Obama tographs. concerning the President and the him all the time. I had been working dent kneeling down, talking to this cial White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy their take-out cofees down on the with children. On the wall of Pete That’s what my staf tells me. It’s Vice President of the U.S.A. be ar- for the Chicago Tribune and taken a 99-year-old African-American wom- f right-hand table, place their bags on Souza’s ofce, however, there is a about 250,000 a year when you do the chived and preserved for posterity. documentary look at his frst year as an, who’s the daughter of a slave.

the conveyor belt and pass the bar- huge mirror. math. Each photograph I take is considered a senator. That’s how I got to know Just like that: Two unexpected „ Photo: O

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I stated that I needed to have access Still, there’s something personal about to everything, and he agreed. you that we can already see. You like Bo better than Sunny. This job involves a lot of sacrifces. When Yes! Bo is my bestie. But they had Bo do you miss having a regular life? for about a year or two before they got (Laughs) That’s the one disadvantage Sunny, so I got to know Bo. He’s a of this job. It really does afect your little calmer, too, and easier to pho- personal life. That goes for anybody tograph. who works at the White House. Your personal life is kind of put on hold. I Are you allowed to share something don’t want that to come across as a about your relationship with the complaint, as the job is a privilege. President? But if you asked my wife... The President and I have what I’d call a professional relationship. He knows How often do you see her? me so well that he teases me a lot. I’m actually home more nights now than when I worked at the Chicago What does he think of your photo- Tribune. The longest I’m ever away graphs? with the President is about ten days. If he’s walking through the halls of It’s hard to make any plans. Even the West Wing there are two catego- scheduling this interview. When did ries of pictures that he always stops you frst e-mail your request? Six in front of: One is photographs of him months ago? This is a kind of 24/7 with kids (visiting kids and children type job; I’m always on call. of staf members). I’ve been able to capture some really fun moments Apparently you’ve only had three one- and he loves seeing those. But also week vacations in eight years? photographs with his family. I Yes, but I’m never too far. I stay in the watched his girls grow up and photo- country, I go to Michigan. But that graphed them. Looking at the pic- makes me nervous too: even to be a tures you can see Malia and Sasha two-hour fight away. growing up. Just think about walking Washington, May 1st, 2011 (top). The President and his advisers are watching the killing of Osama Bin Laden via video link. A war down the halls of your house or your photograph without a war, in which the most powerful people are reduced to mere spectators. You don’t often wear jeans and a shirt to ofce and there are new photographs „ moments happened. So you have On his way to the ofce, more like a suit? of you with your kids on the wall. to be always ready even though you the top: Senator I actually wear jeans when I come to Those are the pictures he gravitates are photographing the same guy Barack Obama work and I keep six or eight suits back to. every day. That’s a challenge. mounting the there, and all my ties. They get all Capitol steps messed up. By the time I walk up- You said he teases you. What about? On May 1st 2011 you photographed Oba- in Washington. stairs to see the President I’ll have a (Laughs) He teases me about ma and his closest advisers watching the This photograph tie on. I’m looking forward to doing everything, to be honest, like the fact killing of Osama Bin Laden via video link. shot by Pete a lot of campaign travel in October for that I’m older than him. I tease him Did you know what was coming when Souza in 2005 is Hillary, because then he doesn’t right back that my hair’s not as gray you entered the Situation Room? on the cover of usually wear a suit, no jacket, so it’s as his. You have to take it more than Yes, I knew what was coming. To me his cofee-table «White House casual» for all of us. you give it. He is the President of the that was not an unexpected moment. book «The Rise of United States. When we travel and That was a scene that was in front of Barack Obama». As @petesouza you are active on Insta- we’re with a group, and everyone me for 45 minutes. It was about try- gram, with great success. Will we ever turns around for a photo, the Presi- ing to catch the essence of what was get to see a selfe of you aboard Air Force dent is always, like: «Pete, did you get going on without disturbing what One? it? Did you get it?» And I’ll probably was going on, by trying to be very No. If you’ve looked at my account go, like: «I got it on the frst take.» But quiet. (over 1,800 pictures) I think maybe it does make my job a lot easier to do there’s been one picture of myself. it with someone who understands Are there moments when you don’t But you have to look real close. I don’t what my role is. have access? understand why people who get to Once the President leaves the Resi- meet the President at an event turn Is that part of the reason why Barack dence, his living quarters, I pretty around and try to take selfes. Why Obama comes across so naturally in your much am with him. There aren’t re- you wouldn’t want to look him in the photographs? ally any restrictions. What I do with eye and shake his hand? And this is A lot of people are always checking his family is something I discuss with coming from a photographer! out the camera, they’re uncomforta- the President and the First Lady, in ble. Barack Obama is never uncom- terms of what family activities to When will your Instagram account fortable. The camera doesn’t afect cover. Unlike the Secret Service, who become personal? him in any way. That was already the accompany the President every- On January 21st, 2017. Our lawyers case before he became the President. where, when it comes to the pho- are trying to fgure out how to do this We went to Moscow and he was walk- tographer the access is up to the so I can still keep my own name. The ing around the Red Square, and President. Barack Obama could have contents of the account itself will go people had no idea who he is. Washington, January 20th, 2009 (bottom). A candid shot from a freight elevator. This afectionate gesture of the frst black Presiden- told me: No. But when I took this job to the National Archives. Never again will he be able to do „ tial couple on the evening of the inauguration captures our hearts. Everyone else discreetly looks away – except for Pete Souza.

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1 2 3 1 The most popular entertainment at U.S. sports events, the «Kiss Cam», prompts the Presidential couple to kiss in 2012. They are happy to oblige.

2 A casual moment at the Oval Ofce: Obama sitting on his desk, legs dangling.

3) The President is a keen basketball player. Playing with congressmen on the court near the White House, he gives it everything he’s got.

4 5 6 4 One of Obama’s favorite pictures of 2012: On Halloween, this little Spider- man looks in on the big Spiderman fan at the Oval Ofce.

5 Following a meeting on healthcare Obama visits Kroger’s supermarket in Bristol (Virginia), taking a big bite from a nectarine.

6 First dog «Bo», all of six months old, gamboling around on the White House lawn with his master Obama.

7 8 9 7 Well, you shouldn’t have had those last two burgers, right, Marvin Nicholson? As the President’s Trip Director steps up onto a scale in a changing room at the University of Texas, Obama surrepti- tiously weighs in.

8 Cool, but never wet: the President in 2012, giving a speech in a Virginia downpour. He begins by apologizing to the female members in the audience for destroying their hairdos.

9 Little Ella in her elephant costume is too sweet by half, even for the President – literally sweeping him of his feet. The daughter of a Deputy National Security Advisor, she managed to do this a second time – when she crawled around on the carpet in front of the Resolute Desk at the Oval Ofce, Obama joined her.

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on the trees, so you get splashes of sunlight into the Oval Ofce. From November to January, throughout the day the light is always diferent. It’s getting close. I have one more shot at it. I’m looking forward to those months.

Will you miss the White House? You even got married in the Rose Garden. I will miss the people here. It’s a fam- ily atmosphere in a lot of ways. But I will not miss having to come here every day. There’s another life out there.

Do you have any thoughts on the fu- ture? I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I Alone and unrecognized – both of which are inconceivable for the President today. defnitely want to continue to take This picture shows Senator Obama in the streets of Moscow in 2005. A photograph photographs. There may be some shot by Pete Souza for the Chicago Tribune at the time. teaching.

Looking at your photographs of the past eight years, what do the pictures say about you as a person and about your career as a photographer? There’s a guy that inspires me, and it’s this guy (points at a photograph of Bruce Springsteen on the wall be- hind him). He’s 67 years old and he still does four-hour rock concerts. I was in my ffties when I started this job. I think it shows that you can still be a good photographer, no matter your age. And I was a little con- cerned; this is a difcult job, and it takes stamina. I’m a more intelligent photographer than I was at 30. I have a keen sense of trying to combine some artistic fair with the word «documenting for history». Making an artistic document, that was my goal.

Are you going to push your career as a «Touch it, dude!» That is an ofer that fve-year-old Jacob cannot refuse, so he runs his guitar player? hand over the President’s hair. This answers his question whether Barack Obama’s hair How do you know this? I’ve been feels like his own. Jacob is the son of a White House stafer. playing guitar probably since I was six, and I’m not that much better than when I was six. I can play some chords, but I never got to the point „ that. Barack Obama is probably the hair like mine? The picture is very where I was really any good. most photographed man in the simple and there’s a lot of emotion world. People used to say that Mu- behind it. But a lot of it has to do with So you’d rather be Bruce Springsteen’s hammad Ali was the most recognized the President. And I’m lucky to have tour photographer than his guitarist? man in the world. Now I feel that been the person that gets to follow I actually would not mind doing that maybe Barack Obama is the most him around. If he hadn’t allowed for maybe ten shows. I wouldn’t want recognized. And yet the camera himself to be in that situation I to do it for a whole tour. doesn’t bother him. A lot of my pic- wouldn’t have gotten that picture. It tures tell the story of an accessible tells you more about him than it does But the President is a talented singer. President. about me. Maybe your paths will cross again on a DOMO writer stage? Which leads to pictures like the one of When is the light in the Oval Ofce most Bettina Bono on (Laughs) If somebody were doing Al the little boy touching the President’s beautiful? assignment at the Green songs and had guest artists he hair? Defnitely during the winter, because White House to could defnitely do one. And I would «Hey, Dad, you’ve got something there,» Malia appears to be saying to her father as she wipes something from his face. An inti- Exactly. He wanted to know: Is your the sun is lower, there are no leaves visit Pete Souza. take the pictures. mate moment at the Oval Ofce on an afternoon in February 2015, captured by Pete Souza.

12 | DOMO – October 2016 DOMO – October 2016 | 13 US ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN Up close and personal

The US electoral campaign is this year’s most exciting event. Ringier journalists get into the thick of it. Text: Peter Hossli Photos: Stefan Falke

he photographer grabs my arm. late July and the Democrats are hold- THe has slept badly and too little. ing their National Convention here He was kept awake by bedbugs at the to nominate, to the sound of lush overpriced but run-down hotel on rock music and showered with bal- the outskirts of Philadelphia. Now he loons and confetti, Hillary Clinton is hot. There is no moving forward (68) as their frst female candidate for nor backward. Bullnecked body- the highest ofce in the land. guards in sunglasses are in front of A week before, in Cleveland, Ohio, every entrance to the big hall. «No.» the Republicans had chosen New That’s what they all say. No, nobody York tycoon Donald Trump (70) to be will get in there now. their candidate – also to rock music, «Listen,» says Stefan, the pho- balloons and confetti, and with al- tographer stuck behind me; unable most as many people attending. to take a single picture because he is These are the two loudest mo- surrounded by people he doesn’t ments of a very loud and very expen- want to photograph. He is holding my sive brouhaha that repeats itself arm. «Let’s not ever do this again.» I every four years: the presidential look over my shoulder. «No, never electoral campaign of the United again.» Journalistic work is impossi- States of America. The Democrats ble when bodyguards block the ac- and Republicans each spend a billion cess to the events you are supposed dollars on the campaign. to cover. It begins with speculation about On stage at that moment is US possible candidates. They, in turn, President Barack Obama (54). Noth- announce their candidacies, some ing must go wrong. The bodyguards more ostentatiously, some more know that. We need to go up to the scantily. They raise funds for the stands. primaries, and they throw in the The electoral campaign is raging towel if their poll numbers are lousy Mostly hate for in America, and it is like a military or their pockets are empty. Eventu- Hillary Clinton: campaign – for the candidates as well ally it boils down to two – and this Impressions from as for the many reporters who chase year it is Democrat Hillary Clinton the Republican them. and Republican Trump. National More than 15,000 journalists cram Convention in themselves into Philadelphia’s Wells Unfltered reporting Cleveland. All Fargo Arena, along with the same The media keep tabs on these pro- photos were shot number of delegates, politicians and ceedings continuously from the be- on an iPhone. helpers – and said bodyguards. It is ginning but never more intensely „

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„ than during the conventions. The around the clock, listening to an interview with the likes of Water- trek to this landmark is a long one for speeches in the evening and then gate whistleblower Carl Bernstein reporters, and it begins in January. writing about them. Stefan Falke (72) and Dutch right-wing populist The Blick Group’s video journalist, takes pictures, Stephanie Seliner Geert Wilders (52). Senator Carl Lev- photographer and writer register in shoots videos. Every day begins in (82) tells you how he took down various places. The organizers assign early and ends long after midnight. Switzerland’s banking secrecy. them hotel rooms. Finally, each ap- In the mornings and the afternoons All work and no play is bad for plication is vetted by Secret Service in Cleveland we meet bikers who you, so we shoot a video comparing ofcials, those federal ofcers who want to protect Trump, gun nuts who the Hillary and Trump fan merchan- usually protect the President. Up want to throw Clinton in jail and dise, the caps and t-shirts, the post- until the week before the start of the protesters who demonize Trump. We ers, the mugs and the key rings. We frst convention in Cleveland it re- hardly get any sleep, particularly fnd that Trump ofers his fans a mains uncertain whether the jour- since the bedbugs in Philadelphia fashier and wider selection. The nalists will get accreditation. Then bite. Democrats, on the other hand, dress the decision comes in: approved. But We ask Republican delegates in more discreetly and stylishly. One juicy detail: Many Trump souvenirs are made in Asia and Latin America, even though Trump promises to bring jobs back from China and Mex- ico to the United States. The Republicans spend four days in Cleveland blowing their own horn and treating themselves to lobsters and cigars. The city earns around 300 million dollars from the convention. Ten minutes down the road from the arena we fnd East Cleveland, one of the USA’s poorest and most danger- ous neighborhoods, inhabited al- most exclusively by blacks. The av- erage annual income is 12,600 dollars. Houses are crumbling, cars are rusting away. A barber tells us that not a single penny the Republi- cans spend comes their way: a per- fect story to illustrate what America is like outside the arena. It is Thursday. We need another they need to pick up their accredita- Cleveland what they think about Video journalist item for Sunday. An hour away from tions at a given time. Those who Trump and learn one thing: They Stephanie Seliner Cleveland lies Warren, the seat of the can’t make it lose their access. care more about stopping Clinton flms Peter Hossli Ohio county with the highest share The journalistic approach is clear: than they do about putting Trump giving an of Trump voters in the primaries. The three of us are on-site, covering into the White House. assessment. Four years ago Obama carried the what we see, hear and experience, We interview female Democrats election here – the perfect communi- getting as close as possible, for unfl- in Philadelphia about how much it ty for reporters to demonstrate why tered reporting. matters to them to get a woman nom- Trump is winning so many votes. We are there to supply four Blick inated for the frst time – and we channels, which is not easy with a learn that the older women in par- Late Night Snack time lag of six hours between the ticular are proud of it, but their Thursday night in Philadelphia, or scene of the events and Switzerland. younger counterparts don’t consider rather: early Friday morning. The last Especially since at these conventions Hillary to be the right woman. balloons are falling. Lush rock music the really exciting stuf usually hap- is coming from the speakers. One last pens way past the editorial deadline Perfect political shows assessment on video, one last print – the absurd performance of Trump’s The conventions? They are perfect item, and we begin the two-mile wife Melania (46), President Barack political shows. Presidents Clinton walk to our hotel. Our work is done Obama’s eloquent eulogy for his own and Obama talk to the Democrats, a and our appetites are up. We have term in ofce, Bill Clinton (70) de- third, Jimmy Carter (91), checks in scarcely found time to eat in the past claring his love to Hillary. And yet, via video. The upbeat mood in the fourteen days. Now it’s 3 a.m. and we our daily paper is supposed to be hall is palpable. The only places re- are sitting at Checkers having burg- up-to-date, profound, surprising – served for journalists are up on the ers and fries. Pervaded by the smell and to stand out from a sea of news. stands. You need special authoriza- of bad frying oil the diner looks like Just like SonntagsBlick, which is tion to get into the hall, which is valid an Edward Hopper painting. Yes, it supposed to brighten Sundays with for exactly one hour. If you don’t was great to work so intensely, pig- features that are at least latently bring it back in time you lose all ac- ging out on unadulterated politics. topical. cess to the hall. And then somebody says: «Maybe There is only one way to achieve It is worth the efort. In the hall we’ll come back in four years. May- More optimism than hate: Impressions from the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Bottom right: Video journalist Stephanie this: by producing pretty much you can meet and have a brief chat or be.» Seliner, writer Peter Hossli and photographer Stefan Falke with their accreditation.

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Call Schertz when it hurts! When writing about celebrities don’t mess with this man: Media lawyer Christian Schertz’s last name may mean «joke» but he does not kid around. Sometimes maliciously dubbed «the Taliban of cen- sorship» he fghts for his clients’ privacy and against untrue state- ments – not just in the tabloids. Text: René Haenig Photos: Olaf Blecker

Mr. Schertz, what did your room look Sure. I devoured anything about the ports about individuals and busi- individuals who arouse public inter- relevant to contemporary history is Christian Schertz Where is the limit when it comes to the like when you were fourteen? Beatles. Which studio did they go nesses. I neither forbid reporting on est as a result of some stroke of fate limited. reading a public’s rights to information? Christian Schertz: Like any other to? Who wrote which song? What public fgures nor do I exercise cen- or other event. The frst category Does this also apply to politicians? newspaper in his It is a matter of weighing up the free- teenager’s room – with a guitar, was it inspired by? As a teenager I sorship. I merely fght to enforce consists of persons who stay in peo- Politicians have to put up with more ofce. The Schertz dom of information and the free- political posters like «Make Peace wanted to see behind the scenes to what any individual is entitled to: ple’s minds by virtue of an athletic than singers, TV hosts or athletes law ofce situated dom of the press against the individ- Not Weapons» and a poster of the know more about the stars. protection from false reporting and or artistic achievement or a political do. They manage the afairs of the on Kurfürstend- ual’s right of personality. Let me put Beatles. Nowadays you prevent reporting on from violations of privacy. function. C or D category celebrities, people and have to acquiesce to amm in Berlin is it this way: The public has a right to From the youth magazine «Bravo»? celebrities and you have the far from What makes someone a public fgure? on whom the public interest is tough questions and to more im- one of Germany’s get information about political ac- No. From the Beatles’ «White Al- fattering reputation of being a «Talib- There is a distinction between abso- focused for a limited period of pingements on their right of person- top three media tivities, or even about the work of bum». an of censorship». lute persons from contemporary time, do not belong to that group. ality than an «ordinary» celebrity law ofces. stars, but there are limits. But you did read «Bravo»? I only take action against untrue re- history and relative public fgures – The group of individuals who are would. Where do you draw the line? „

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„ When it comes to privacy, which is the question that this entails for pre- ware that they are thereby losing fundamentally protected, even mium tabloid media, whether they their legal protection and creating where celebrities are concerned, should give in to that brutality by circumstances that are irreversible. there is no right to sensationalism writing similar stories or whether You appear to speak from experience. nor to peeping through keyholes. they would rather write positive sto- I have seen some very tragic cases Time and again the courts have ries that do not humiliate celebri- where everything people had said made it clear that famous people ties. online was later turned against have to tolerate reports on their ap- Who seeks your advice as media law- them. In some instances this led to pearance and their work or achieve- yer, when and why? suicide. That is why I give lectures in ments but not about their family Many come at the eleventh hour which I warn teenagers and stu- relations, or who lives with whom, when there is a headline somewhere dents not to reveal too many person- where and why. Especially not, if that constitutes a violation of the al details online. they themselves did not make these law. In many cases, however, we are Do you yourself use social media like things public. employed in advance, because Facebook, Twitter, etc.? Which some celebrities do. somebody has fallen ill or separated I once signed up with Facebook to First and foremost are the B and C from their partner or been accused look at it and do research about it for celebrities, who often become fa- of something; events that might be a book. I have since deleted my ac- mous by exploiting their own pri- made public and could lead to dam- count. I felt that it put incredible so- vate lives. A celebrity who keeps the ages or the loss of a right. cial pressure on me. Our law ofce door to their private life shut and Could you give us an example? has a Twitter account, but we use it never does home interviews or the Yes, if a celebrity has a severe illness very sparingly. like, does not have to put up with and the healing process requires Do you read «Bild», «Bunte» or «Gala» violations of privacy. That goes for rest from the media. If the tabloids only for professional reasons? their house or property, and even are hot on their heels – as was the Sometimes I also read parts of them when they go out for dinner – no case after Michael Schumacher’s to see how a paper is publicly cover- matter in whose company – the only skiing accident –, that is physically ing certain current afairs. That exception being when they walk a and psychologically counterproduc- doesn’t exactly count as profession- red carpet with that person. tive. In such cases we talk to the al reading, but it is material that I Sometimes journalists hear from you doctors and the hospital staf about work with. before they have even begun to write. how to respond when the media Is the claim to the «right to one’s own That’s right! We have a tool we call contact them. We often conduct so- image» still valid in an age of read- the legal information notice to the called background talks with edi- er-reporters with cellphone cameras, press. It serves to inform certain me- tors-in-chief. Facebook and the Internet? dia that a given report which has Have you ever turned down famous More than ever, precisely because of been published in a paper or on TV clients? this development. Today anyone and is illegal, may not be used as a Yes! I don’t take cases where some- can secretly photograph or flm any- reference. It is an early-warning sys- one calls for a media lawyer after body else and instantly distribute tem with which we nip headlines in having spent years exploiting their these images worldwide. And just the bud before they break. private life, inviting all the media because this has actually involved Do you like journalists at all? into their home and earning a living extreme numbers of violations of I think the media are essential, and from it. personal rights that doesn’t mean there is a need for investigative jour- Are there situations where you could cided they needed to issue a press re- Personal you can assume that people simply nalism. Still, I often wonder about Christian Schertz, go nuts because a client does not fol- lease? Christian Schertz has been acknowledged as one of Germany’s foremost experts on media law for years. An have to put up with it. journalists who devote their work to 50, comes from an low your advice? I am still shocked about that even honorary professor, he teaches at Technische Universität Dresden and frequently takes part in political talk Have you ever had to take action what other people are doing and ba- old Berlin family of It’s happened that on a weekend I today. Unfortunately, time and shows. He co-founded his law ofce on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin eleven years ago with Simon Bergmann. against media on you own behalf? sically only do so to criticize them. lawyers. His father would stop at a gas station and be again we see investigating authori- Today they employ seven lawyers. Schertz is currently representing German satirist Jan Böhmermann in his Many times – because people had The tendency to disparage was a judge and faced with a headline where a client ties release intimate details to the legal battle against Turkish President Erdogan. On his own TV show «Neo Magazin Royale» Böhmermann spread untrue statements about me everything, as well as the belief that Berlin’s Chief of of mine – against my advice – had media, which often contributes to makes fun of his own lawyer by having a man of small stature appear as «joke lawyer Dr. Christian Fun». or violated my privacy. only a critical journalist is a good Police. As a given an exclusive interview to the prejudicial coverage. I have to say, Speaking of privacy: You are rumored journalist, is a danger to social cohe- teenager Schertz press. though, that this practice is chang- to be in a relationship with ice-skating sion, as far as I’m concerned. played the guitar Do you personally feel sympathy for ing. legend Katharina Witt. Do you believe that this will change for in a rock band. He the humiliation of your clients? Based on your experience, what is the You don’t seriously believe that I the better? read law in Berlin Some people come to me because situation of privacy in our society? would recommend to my clients not It already has. I no longer see the and Munich, did fate has dealt them a terrible blow or I think privacy is still worth protect- to talk about their personal lives, kinds of methods that «Bild» em- his internship in because they are afraid of being ing. On the other hand, a lot has only to do it myself – regardless of ployed in the 1990s and at the begin- New York and publicly humiliated. There is no changed because of Facebook. Mark whether the allegations in question ning of this millennium, which vio- worked for the beneft in the lawyer weeping with Zuckerberg realized that there is a are correct? So: Nice try! lated rights of personality. The same US-founded radio them. His job is to help them and human need to put themselves out One last question: You once said in an goes for the weekly «Bunte», which and TV broadcast- protect them. But there are cases there. He made a billion-dollar busi- interview that you didn’t always abide under the leadership of Patricia er RIAS Berlin. that afect me emotionally, because ness out of it, with the downside by the ten commandments. Which Riekel has begun to refrain from Schertz himself they are tragic or I didn’t manage to that millions of people are now per- commandment is most difcult for publishing humiliating exposés and regards this prevent the media from making manently divulging all sorts of in- you? practicing serious invasions of pri- take-of as a them public. formation about themselves. It got Probably the commandment «Thou vacy. compliment. In his As was the case with a female singer to the point that people put their shalt not bear false witness». Of Do you have an explanation for this? private life Schertz where you were unable to keep her medical records about their cancer course we have all lied at one time or It may have to do with the brutaliza- collects photo- HIV infection out of the media, be- online. Some people divulge They rely on Schertz’s legal advice (from left to right): Sweden’s Prince Carl Philip and his wife Sofa, satirist Jan other in our lives – for whatever rea-

tion that occurs on the Internet and graphic art. cause the district attorney’s ofce de- everything about themselves, una- Handout (3), GettyImages Photos: Böhmermann, Homeland star Claire Danes and Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz. sons.

20 | DOMO – October 2016 DOMO – October 2016 | 21 INTERVIEW – VIRTUAL REALITY

«Suddenly you’re in the cockpit»

The Blick Group presents its new virtual-reality app. Project manager Sebastian Pfotenhauer has no doubts about the success of this technology: «The frst time you experience virtual reality is a real epiphany.» Text: Alejandro Velert Photo: Geri Born

Sebastian Pfotenhauer, the tech industry has videos play a crucial part. At Blick, we have Could you report live from a disaster area? Does once again announced the «next big thing». managed to more than triple our video views the technology permit that? This time it’s virtual reality (VR). Isn’t this just within a year. But our competition is not No. To produce good VR video we still need another instance of excessive hype? asleep at the wheel, so we always need to stay a bit of a lead-time. Live coverage on location This is much more than hype. As far as I’m one step ahead, spot new trends early and try will also fail for the time being because of the concerned it is the video technology of the them out – as we have done with virtual re- huge amounts of data that need to be trans- future. VR will completely change the way ality. mitted. we consume moving images. Thanks to VR, How do you and your team go about develop- What are your plans for the future? the legendary «holodeck» from the Starship ing something like this? There is no experi- «Blick VR» is the kick-of of our virtual ad- Enterprise will eventually become a reality. ence to fall back on. venture. We will report on our progress and Still, the TV series «Star Trek» is set in some Not quite. The subject of 360-degree viewing closely follow this topic, for which we have distant future. has been an issue for Blick for the past six recently added a dedicated section on Blick. Of course, the technology is still in its early years, frst in the form of 360-degree pho- ch. And by 2017 we’d like to broadcast con- stages, but it’s evolving at a tremendous pace tography, and for the past eighteen months certs, for example, live in VR. – and everyone who frst puts on VR goggles in video as well. So there is experience – Will users have to pay for these kinds of expresses an almost childlike euphoria. espe cially as embodied in Dominik Bau- services? Suddenly you’re sitting in the cockpit of an mann, one of the internationally acknowl- Everything will be free to start with. In the airplane or standing in the Sistine Chapel! edged experts in the feld. However – and long run I can imagine that VR would be a What exactly is VR, how would you describe there you have a point – even Dominik and way to establish paid content in the digital the technology? along with him our video team are learning area. Let’s take the Soccer World Cup fnals: Basically it’s nothing more than the 3D gog- new things every day like how best to tell VR will permit viewers to experience the gles we all used as kids. The secret lies in stories in virtual reality. game in the stadium while sitting at home creating an image for each eye. Our brain Do you also collaborate with other compa- on their couch. Or they get to stand in the merges the two into a composite image, nies? goal with Germany’s keeper Manuel Neuer generating a kind of three-dimensionality. Exchanging knowledge in this feld, which when Ronaldo gets a free kick. I frmly be- In addition, Blick’s VR videos – created by at is still very new to everybody, is crucial. Only lieve that a lot of fans would pay for that. least two cameras – ofer a 360-degree pan- by talking to other companies can we avoid What are the next technological hurdles you orama, so you can look into any direction. As mistakes and beneft from other people’s need to overcome? if you were actually standing in that place. experience. It’s a matter of give and take. We Whenever a user looks or runs into a particu- What exactly are you and the Blick Group are collaborating with the Los Angeles lar direction the background noise and indi- developing together? Times, for example, and indeed with You- vidual sounds need to change accordingly. With «Blick VR» we have developed two apps Tube, who liked our 360-degree videos so That is something we’d also like to ofer at for Cardboard use, one version for the iPhone much that they were the ones to suggest a Blick eventually. Another major hurdle is the and one for Android devices. We will add a co-operation. amount of data that VR technology requires. third app, customized for Samsung Gear VR. How do users react in your tests? New technologies tend to raise fears. What if This headset provides an even more intense Nobody wants to take the headset of! You people wind up being unable to tell VR from experience and costs just under a hundred can write or say a lot about VR but you really reality? Or lose themselves in virtual reality dollars. We’ll be ofering 40 videos to start need to experience it for yourself. because it is much more pleasant? with and add a new clip every week. How will this afect the way journalists work? To fear anything new is only human, just as Sebastian By adopting this technology in its early stag- From now on it is not only journalists but our people used to be afraid of the frst motor- Pfotenhauer, es Ringier is taking on a pioneering role in the users, too, who will be at the heart of events. cars. People need to try out VR and decide Head of Video Swiss media industry. This immediacy is a huge bonus, and it pre- for themselves whether they want to use it Ringier AG, with That is the right strategy. Digital business is sents an equally great challenge, because or not. My experience has been: The frst the Samsung Gear growing more and more important for Ring- consumers will demand proximity, emotion- time anyone puts on one of those headsets VR. «Virtual ier. That is why we need to ofer a lot more ality and all the pertaining information. And it’s like an epiphany, and they want more. Reality will change stories and products in digital form – and all of that from every point of view, literally. And this more is what we want to ofer! everything.»

22 | DOMO – October 2016 INHOUSE – VIRTUAL REALITY In this section DOMO regularly reports on products and teams in the world of Ringier

Looking into the future All aboard for virtual reality! Blick’s new VR app lets you bring new worlds to your living room. Put on your Cardboard or GearVR headset and turn yourself into a pilot, a parachutist or a racecar driver.

How can I watch 360-degree videos with Cardboard goggles? Just start the video in goggle mode, plug in your smartphone and off you go. You can look around as you would in reality, simply by turning your head. The spatial perception is created by two separate images projected at each of your eyes. Basic Cardboard goggles are available for around seven dollars. And there are plastic headsets that are more solid and feature enhancing optics.

Do the videos work without the goggles? Definitely – although the experience is not quite as impressive. To look around you need to turn the smartphone in a circle or simply swipe the screen right and left or up and down with your finger.

Why isn’t the image in the goggles as sharp as it looks on the display itself? As the screen is split down the middle for use with Cardboard you only get half the resolution. The better your smartphone’s display the better the 360-degree video will look in your goggles.

How high is the data usage? Use the app in a WiFi zone if possible or if you have an unlimited data plan. The data usage is five to six times as high as with a normal video.

What is the purpose of the special app designed for the Samsung Gear VR? This app may only be used in conjunction with the Samsung headset and provides an even more intense VR experience. The contents are the same as for the normal app. When you put on your headset you can see the menu directly within the 360-degree environment. The cursor moves in sync with your Design: head and you can open a video or a menu item by clicking on Angelina Arquint (3rd-year trainee Ringier) the touchpad on the side of the headset. Leo Faccani (2nd-year trainee Ringier)

24 | DOMO – October 2016 DOMO – October 2016 | 25 RINGIER MEETS THE STARS No butts about it Men are often accused of only looking at women’s behinds. DOMO writer René Haenig refrained. Which is why he did not realize whom he was firting with in Los Angeles. But then, who would expect to be sitting next to Jennifer Lopez in a restaurant and to have the superstar winking at him to boot? Text: René Haenig

or several minutes now I have thing every millionaire can lay claim their seats beside us one of them Fbeen unable to shake the feeling to. On the second day the couple take winks at me: «Hi, how are you?» I’m that I know this woman – but how? me to dinner. They have booked a fne, I answer, and she immediately Ever since she came into the restau- table for 8 p.m. Solveig gives me the picks up on my (German) accent, re- rant laughing and goofng around address: 8764 Melrose Avenue, West alizing that I am not a native. «Where with her girlfriends and took a seat at Hollywood. do you come from?» – «From Switzer- the next table she has been chatting land, Zurich.» – «Oh, maybe I’ll come to me. She’s nice. She’s sexy. Damn, Celebrity concourse at the to Switzerland for a concert some she’s sexy. I start to cast desperate restaurant time!» glances at my hosts: «Help me, who is Half an hour ahead of time I call a taxi. she?» Martin and his wife Solveig are Once the driver has picked me up at «The most famous ...» highly amused at my lack of realiza- the Hotel Le Méridien Delfna in San- As she carries on asking me questions tion of who is sitting next to me. ta Monica and I have given him the about Switzerland and Zurich I won- To be honest, this story doesn’t address he explains to me that «Cec- der why this woman seems so famil- exactly enhance my reputation as a coni’s» is the hippest celebrity restau- iar. Her remark about the concert gossip writer. To reveal that I once sat rant in town. Having fnagled that I should have given me pause. But next to Jennifer Lopez in Hollywood have a dinner date with Bond-movie something has made me slow on the and engaged in small-talk without director Martin Campbell out of me uptake. Martin and his wife are enjoy- having a clue as to her stardom; clear- he asks whether I’m an actor. Sorry for ing my desperate glances pleading for ly someone had to help me along. asking, he doesn’t know me. «No help. Eventually I manage to whisper But let me start at the beginning. problem!» I’m just a journalist, from to him: «Who is she? I know I’ve seen In Los Angeles in April 2007 I am Switzerland. The last bit, at least, her before!» Seconds later, when no- on assignment for Schweizer Illu- appears to impress him a little bit. one is looking, he simply says: «The strierte to do a home story on flm Outside «Cecconi’s» a short wait is most famous...», outlining a woman’s director Martin Campbell and his in order. A chaufeur delivers an el- posterior with his hands. At last the Swiss wife Solveig Romero. They are derly couple from a stretch limo. I penny drops. The most famous, lus- about to have their frst child. Camp- decide to follow the couple in – and cious butt of the day can only belong bell is an A-list director in Tinsel- spot Martin at the bar. We are waiting to one woman: Jennifer Lopez, the town. Born in New Zealand, he made for Solveig. Meanwhile, Martin ex- U.S. singer with Puerto Rican roots. blockbusters like the James Bond plains to me who is already here: Famous for hits like «If You Had My movies «Golden Eye» and «Casino Danny DeVito is laughing at one table, Love», «Love Don’t Cost a Thing» and Royale», the mountain-climbing dra- Al Pacino is sipping a glass of wine a «Jenny from the Block», not to men- ma «Vertical Limit» as well as the few tables farther away. A flm pro- tion a successful actress as well. But swashbucklers «The Mask of Zorro» ducer is there, too, but I have forgot- there it was: I hadn’t looked at her and «The Legend of Zorro». ten his name. Be that as it may: I have behind. Wearing a ponytail and The Campbells live in the Malibu never seen such an overload of celeb- scant make-up Lopez looked quite hills in a prime location, where one rities. diferent from the photos I knew. millionaire’s mansion adjoins anoth- When Solveig joins us we go to our And let’s face it: Who would expect er, all with a view of the Pacifc. table. We are reviewing the last two to go to a restaurant and wind up sit- Martin and Solveig spend two days days when the women I mentioned at ting next to «J. Lo» and having her firt showing me what their life is like in- the outset approach the next table. with you? Ok, in America anything

cluding a private beach, not some- They are laughing – and as they take is possible ... Photo: Alix/Allpix/Laif

26 | DOMO – October 2016 MICHAEL RINGIER TALK

7x Send your questions to: domo@ Employee questions ringier.ch

Katia Murmann Marc Walder Ralph Büchi Jutta Schilke Editor-in-chief ad int. CEO Ringier AG Delegate of the Board of Head Human SonntagsBlick Directors Ringier Axel Resources Ringier AG Springer Schweiz AG

«We need to be a lot «We have long-term «We’re improving our «Almost all of our more daring. Journal- plans with Christian competitiveness in the Swiss affiliates have ism has never been Dorer, just as with Iris market and digitalizing already implemented more diverse and Mayer and Peter Röth- our brands. We’re on timekeeping. Now exciting than it is lisberger at Blick.» track!» Ringier Switzerland today.» will follow suit.»

This summer you went to Silicon This August the Blick Group How is Ringier Axel Springer By January 1st or April 1st at the Valley to take part in an announced more major Schweiz (RASCH) doing – and latest Ringier Switzerland will rnst Tanner is one of Switzerland’s most successful and celebrated executives. For more than 20 years he innovation program jointly personnel changes, including when will the joint venture move introduce timekeeping for has led the chocolate manufacturers Lindt & Sprüngli from strength to strength. He has internationalized launched by Ringier, Swiss Post the departure of the Group’s to its new ofces in Zurich-Alt- employees. What will change? his company, catapulted turnover and profts to undreamed-of heights and thereby more than consolidat- and the insurance company managing director, Wolfgang stetten? And will this afect staf in other Mobiliar. What were your Büchner. Will things fnally calm «We are on track, consistently countries? ed his power as chairman of the board and CEO. Ernst Tanner is pretty much the poster boy for the Swiss experiences, and what did you down now? pursuing our most important «Employees will henceforth have to Ebusiness world. learn? «There have been many changes objectives: improving our clock in and clock out every day and «I totally caught the digital bug. I within the Blick Group throughout competitiveness in the market and register the duration of long breaks, went to the Advanced Media the past ten or 15 years. Each digitalizing our brands. For this as required by the new labor laws. If And yet he would vote for Trump. That, at least, is what he said in an interview with a Swiss Sunday paper in June. Institute at UC Berkeley for an change has and had its own history. purpose we have reframed our user certain conditions apply, the His reason: «Because he would practice more business-friendly politics.» It is quite understandable that Hillary advanced course in multimedia Top-level positions within a tabloid market strategy, revised our service legislators allow for a simplifed Clinton’s politics are too leftist for his taste. But is that reason enough to vote for Trump? The man is a notorious liar, storytelling, where I learned to group, whether on the editorial portfolio – Amiado with its timekeeping procedure – which is a self-confessed sexist, a fnancial fraud who is happy to play the racist to win more votes. Someone who «person- program, visualize data and apply level or in the publishing depart- youth-oriented online platforms is what Ringier’s management agreed multimedia techniques to ment, require enormous amounts now part of Energy –, re-examined upon with Ringier staf representa- ally comes across as a total asshole,» as the American writer Stewart O’Nan put it. Never in his life would Ernst storytelling. I also went in search of of involvement, strength and our product portfolio and carried tives as well as the employee Tanner, who is a friendly, economic-liberal and down-to-earth person, hire somebody like that for his company – not new business models and types of expertise – that is surely one reason out several relaunches. The associations of the media industry even to clean their toilets. And yet he would vote for his election as U.S. President. content at New Media companies for fairly frequent changes. With wonderful special issues of in the last few months. such as AJ+, Fusion, Ozy and Christian Dorer we have now hired Schweizer Illustrierte or the XXL The extra efort caused by Pop-Up Magazine. one of our country’s foremost issue of Le Temps prove how many timekeeping will therefore not be The only explanation for this kind of behavior from an otherwise very moderate and socially fully integrated exec- The most important things I editors-in-chief, and we have opportunities print has to ofer! Our excessive. Still, it is a departure from utive and entrepreneur is a kind of disregard – or even disdain – for politics. The more successful business leaders learned: to step up teamwork, and long-term plans with him, just as we successful launch of Guider, current practice. However, it will we need to do more experimenting. do with Iris Mayer and Peter Beobachter magazine’s online legal continue to require good leadership become, the greater the danger that they diverge from the overriding interests of society, having developed tunnel Users demand quality journalism in Röthlisberger at Blick. Wolfgang advice platform, was an innovative from superiors, who will have to vision for nothing but their own goals. It was this attitude that led Swiss companies to carry on doing brisk trade digital forms too. That’s the good Büchner’s job, in turn, was to step in the digitalization of a engage more deeply with topics with the apartheid regime in South Africa for years in spite of UN embargoes. It is the same political one-track-mind news. However, we are still thinking develop the fve channels Blick, powerful print brand. We really such as the working hours and that, 15 years ago, prompted Swiss bankers to support right-wing populists, in the hope that these politicians would too much in terms of given formats. SonntagsBlick, Blick am Abend, enjoyed the barbeque party we absences of their employees. I mean to change that and to Blick.ch and blickamabend.ch celebrated at the Medienpark in Almost all of our Swiss afliates create a better environment for their tax-evasion marketing. And it is this same attitude towards politics that moves provide a space that will allow us to further over the next few years. In June with the staf of RASCH and have already implemented business leaders to say things like: A dash of Putin would do us good. develop new types of content and the last twelve months Mr. Büchner Admeira: a nice foretaste of our timekeeping, e. g. the printers, apply them in our everyday work. In has put many things on the right future collaboration under our new DeinDeal, Geschenkidee, Scout24 order to get there, we need to bring track in this respect. He has also roof! Our new ofces are currently and Admeira (as of 2017). This There is one thing that some of these business leaders don’t really get: Getting elected by the people is far more content and technology together launched the reorganization of our under interior construction; their change will only happen in arduous than being appointed by a board of directors. And sometimes it matters more. and to be a lot more daring than we newsroom, strengthened our video completion is set for the end of Switzerland, other ‹Ringier have been. If we achieve that we’ll content and social-media March 2017, and we will move in as countries› will not be afected.» be on the right track: Journalism has engagement as well as initiated the soon as they’re ready. A detailed never been more diverse and fundamental relaunch of the Blick timeline for the move will be exciting than it is today.» Group’s digital presence. All of this worked out in early 2017 with all the work will be carried on consistently departments that are involved.» after his departure.

28 | DOMO – Juni 2015 DOMO – October 2016 | 29 ANNIVERSARIES Editor’s Choice by Marc Walder From the basement to the peaks Are you familiar with this title? An internal-mail carrier at Ringier’s Zurich headquarters, Heinz Eugster spent 18 Marc Walder tells you which years delivering letters, parcels and newspapers to our ofces – always good-hu- book he’s reading and why it fascinates him. mored and ready to crack a joke. He also smuggled and distributed photos of the Dalai Lama. Recently retired, he now indulges his love of country life at LandLiebe, Peter Thiel and his passion for the mountains. Photos: Geri Born, private ZERO TO ONE He co-founded e has had some pretty interesting ad- PayPal and made Hventures: In Tibet Heinz Eugster, 64, the frst outside smuggled forbidden photos of the Dalai investment in Lama into the country; he played the eu- Facebook: Peter phonium at a concert in London’s world-fa- Thiel. In his best- mous Royal Albert Hall; he shook hands seller «Zero to with former German Chancellor Gerhard One» the Ameri- Schröder in the basement ofce of Ringier’s can argues that globalization may internal mail in Zurich – and for one day he suggest technological progress even became the editor-in-chief of the ce- but that these supposed innova- lebrity magazine Schweizer Illustrierte. tions are merely copies of things «I’m happy with my life,» says Eugster, who that already exist. Thiel shows took early retirement in March. how we can get out of this techno- When he was a boy he wanted to become logical dead end. His book is a a mailman. «The job intrigued me.» His radical appeal against stagnation. parents were farmers in rural Appenzell. On It’s a plea for more courage and the weekends his father would carry the risk-taking and a roadmap for an boy piggyback, walking in the surrounding innovative future because the fu- hills. The fact that he had a Tibetan class- ture does not belong to the best mate intensifed the boy’s love of the moun- among many but only to the suc- tains. Young Eugster is not only fascinated cessful innovator. And: True inno- by the peaks of Cho Oyu, Pumori and Ama vation does not evolve horizontal- Dablam, but also by the culture of the Him- ly but by vertical leaps and bounds alayan populace. He is still on very cordial – from zero to one, that is. terms with his old Tibetan school buddy. Thiel embeds his personal experi- Just two years ago the two went on a trek- ences in economic, political and king tour to the source of the Ganges. philosophical refections. That is Although the long-term efects of polio what makes his book stand out prevent him from going on challenging from the usual works of self-help climbs, he goes to the mountains as often literature. as weather permits. «I love simply to ob- Publisher: Crown Business serve nature,» he maintains. At his house on Lake Lützel he proves he has green David Brooks thumbs – the town’s most magnifcent fowers bloom on Eugster’s balcony. THE ROAD TO CHARACTER He could have had a career as a musician. What makes He studied at the conservatory in Geneva us valuable for three and a half years. His instrument personalities? of choice was the euphonium. He even It is neither taught budding young brass players. «Even- calculation nor tually it was all too much and I decided to self-interest or go on working as a mailman.» the me-frst cul- What about his smuggling «career»? ture that is sup- That happened eight years ago, when trav- posed to make us competitive. el through Tibet was only permitted in the Instead, we must relearn not company of a watchdog. Heinz absconded, to conquer the world but to sneaking away to stay with a local for three pledge ourselves to it. «Most days. To thank the man for his hospitality, of us have clearer strategies for Eugster gave him a photograph of the Dalai how to achieve career success Lama, the Buddhist spiritual leader, which than we do for how to develop a was strictly forbidden. «My host fell to his profound character,» says Amer- He loves nature and has green thumbs: Heinz Eugster has been knees, tears in his eyes, and laid his fore- ican writer David Brooks. He the «guiding spirit» of the LandLiebe editorial ofce. Passionate head onto my feet to say thank you.» This demonstrates that we can all win mountaineer: Heinz Eugster in front of the snow-covered peak of was to become Heinz Eugster’s life motto: victories only if we internalize Cho Oyu in 2004 – and during his ftness training today. In his tiny A kind word is ample thanks. And that is a simple truth: In order to fulfl internal mailroom in the basement of Ringier’s headquarters he exactly the impression one gets from his yourself you must also forget RH even got a visit from former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. upbeat attitude. yourself. Publisher: Random House 30 | DOMO – October 2016