3rd place for Nik Niethammer in the 2020 Editor-in-Chief election

Well-deserved honour for Nik Niethammer, editor-in-chief and journalistic director of Fritz+Fränzi for almost eight years: he took 3rd place in the «Editor-in-chief» category of the industry magazine Schweizer Journalist:in.
Text: Florina Schwander

Picture: Rawpixel / zVg

On Thursday, 30 June, after a two-year delay due to the pandemic, the time had finally come for the Swiss Journalists of the Year 2020 and 20021 awards ceremony to take place at the SVA Social Insurance Institution in Zurich. Nik Niethammer was there to accept the award for 3rd place in the «Editor-in-Chief» category. Nicole Meier, editor-in-chief of Keystone SDA, was awarded 1st place in the same category. All the other winners of the award can be found here.

Nik Niethammer: «As a journalist, I can't imagine a better job than supporting parents in their parenting work. It is a very special honour for me to have been responsible for this wonderful magazine together with a great team for almost eight years.» (Image: Jean-Pierre Ritler)

An award is recognition that you have achieved something extraordinary. You are not satisfied with a «good», you are prepared to go the last few metres, which are always the most arduous. Dear Nik, I congratulate you on your award, which puts you in the same league as the best in Switzerland. But an award should also give you pleasure and satisfaction for what you have achieved over the years. And it should be an incentive and motivation for the coming editions, as your great commitment really does attract attention and recognition. We are delighted for you.

Yours sincerely, Thomas Schlickenrieder, Managing Director of Stiftung Elternsein

The procedure for selecting the Journalists of the Year is as follows: A jury of experts nominates candidates for each category. The choice is made by the readers of the industry magazine Schweizer Journalist:in. According to the organiser, 1280 journalists voted in 2020 and 2021, which is a new record. The election is a public vote - being voted for by colleagues is a special honour.

Portrait Nik Niethammer


Nik Niethammer, 60, has been Editor-in-Chief of the Swiss parents' magazine Fritz+Fränzi since December 2014. He previously held the same position at Sat1 in Berlin and Schweizer Illustrierte. Born in eastern Switzerland, he is the father of two children (13 and 11). He lives in Zurich and Freiburg im Breisgau.