The group, which calls itself Switzerland’s largest media company, said the drastic change of direction “accelerates its digital transformation”.

“With the new strategy, the company is responding to the rapid change in media usage, but also to the changes in the advertising market driven by technology companies,” Tamedia said in a statement.

The group, which employs around 1,400 people, owns the Tages-Anzeiger and Tribune de Geneve newspapers among other titles.

It intends to close its Lausanne printing site by the end of March and its Zurich plant by the end of 2026, with only the Bern printing works kept on and expanded.

“In recent years, excess capacity has arisen that no longer makes it possible to operate three operations profitably,” Tamedia said.

Around 200 jobs will go from the printing works, and around 90 posts will be cut from the editorial departments.

“We want to be a leader in the digital world with quality journalism,” said chief executive Jessica Peppel-Schulz.

Publisher Pietro Supino added: “The media world has changed fundamentally over the past two decades. After continuous adaptations, the time has come for a thorough reorganisation.”

The announcement sparked criticism and alarm among unions, editorial offices and in regional authorities.

The Conference of Governments of Western Switzerland — bringing together the seven cantons where French is an official language — said they were “concerned about the effects of this new weakening of the media landscape”.

“This decision is a new blow to information access, in a French-speaking media landscape whose diversity is very seriously threatened.”

The Vaud and Geneva cantons each deplored the move and demanded meetings with Tamedia’s executives.

The Swiss journalists’ union Impressum called the job cuts “excessive” and “catastrophic”.

Tamedia said it was focusing on “four strong brands” to achieve its digital growth: Tages-Anzeiger, BZ Berner Zeitung, Basler Zeitung and 24 Heures, the daily newspaper in the Vaud canton encompassing Lausanne.

“The message is clear: Tamedia wants to kill the Tribune de Geneve,” the newspaper’s editorial staff said in a statement.

“At worst, this will lead to the pure and simple disappearance of the main local newspaper with a history spanning more than a century,” they said, asking why the group did not consider selling the title instead.