The International Press Institute (IPI) today mourned the passing of publisher, journalist and long-time IPI member Norbert Neininger, who died on Saturday following a battle with cancer.

Neininger, 64, was a respected, well-known journalist, who served the Swiss daily Schaffhauser Nachrichten for more than 40 years as contributor, chief editor and publisher. He was also an active IPI member since 1998 and a regular participant at IPI World Congresses.

IPI Fellow Ido Dissenthik said from Tel Aviv: “Together with my close friends – his family – I want to mourn the passing Norbert Neininger and to celebrate his life. He was a giant of a journalist and a leader-editor of unique stature. He was one of a handful of our profession who understood that there is a new world, a new media and new media consumer.”

Alluding to Neininger’s reputation for a forward-thinking approach, as well as for standing up for media independence, Dissenthik added: “He was devoted to press freedom, to human freedom and to democracy in ways that people of present times do not recognize. He was intolerant to abuse of power by journalists, editors and publishers as much as by politicians and businessmen. He was aware of other people’s sufferings and tried to help them.”

Former IPI Executive Board Chair Janne Virkkunen said: “I learned to know Norbert as an editor who never compromised on Press Freedom issues. Norbert was a man with very good sense of humour. In Norbert the IPI Community has lost a true defender of Press Freedom. We would need more IPI members like Norbert.”

Neininger was known for supporting the preservation of his newspaper’s independence and financial stability. His efforts to prevent the sale of the Schaffhauser Nachrichten – a daily catering mostly to the Swiss canton Schaffhausen, located in the Greater Zurich area – to a large publisher in Zurich earned him widespread admiration among colleagues.

Swiss journalist and IPI Executive Board Vice Chair Markus Spillmann, the former editor-in-chief of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, said that Neininger was not only a very engaged IPI-member, but also an extraordinary gifted publisher and journalist.

“In Switzerland, he defended his tiny journal Schaffhauser Nachrichten against all odds amid a tough market and the appetites of the surrounding big publishing houses,” Spillman recalled. “But above all, Norbert was a friend and a fine colleague, always lending his ear to those in the industry who fought to preserve the existence of the industry: to those who fight for good content.”

The journalist was a pioneer in his field, and was quick to recognize the importance of information technology for the media industry. The Schaffhauser Nachrichten was the first Swiss newspaper to launch an online website and later also offered a digital Sunday edition for the iPad and iPhone, and for devices using Google’s Android operating system. He also caused a stir beyond Swiss borders when he helped launch “Teleblocher”, the first Internet TV broadcaster in Switzerland, in 2007.

“In his country Norbert was a well known voice defending journalistic standards,” Spillmann said. “He was a conservative who loved the printed press. But, also, he was progressive in elaborating new technologies more often and earlier than many of us. I remember him sitting in IPI sessions taking notes with an e-pen, twittering and taking photos to put them instantly online.

“Norbert has left much too early. We at IPI will miss him. I will miss him.”

Neininger was elected “Publisher of the Year” by the industry magazine Schweizer Journalist in 2013. He also had served as a board member of the Association of Swiss Media, an interest group of private media houses in Switzerland, since 2001.

Born in 1950, Neininger studied at the Ringier School of Journalism in Zurich after giving up studies in mathematics and he joined the Schaffhauser Nachrichten at age 24. Beginning in 1983, he helped build Radio Munot, one of the first private radio stations in Switzerland.

He was appointed editor-in-chief of Schaffhauser Nachrichten in 1994 and later went on to become the newspaper’s publisher. Up to his death, he covered not only regional, but also national and international events on a weekly basis.

“He will be greatly missed by his friends and colleagues at home, in Europe and in the International Press Institute,” Dissenthik said. “Schaffhausen will feel his absence but the Schaffhausen Nachrichten will be a living monument to his contribution. This very special kind of person will rarely again cross our paths.”