End of November the congregational Adventist News Agency of Switzerland (Adventist Press Service / German: Adventistischer Pressedienst - APD) celebrated its 40th anniversary. The agency was founded in 1974 on the initiative of the journalist Christian B. Schaeffler in Basel/Switzerland. APD appeals with its services primarily to secular media (print and online media, radio, television), the ecclesiastical press and other institutions of public information. In 2004 APD Switzerland was reorganised and repositioned from a German language church press service to a news agency and has become an integral part in the German language media world. The Agency is headquartered in Basel.
APD informs with the latest news, in-depth reports, commentaries and documentation from the Christian world. In addition to topics of church internal developments, reports on topics such as development aid (ADRA), human rights / religious liberty, church & state and ecumenism are key themes. The agency applies the journalistic standards comprising of true, objective and comprehensive reporting. Although APD is an integral part of the Adventist communication structure in Switzerland, the agency operates entirely independently of the church leadership underlined by the characteristics of independent reporting despite being part of the church and independent from any political interests.
The APD agency reports are disseminated electronically. They are also published on the Internet website http://www.stanet.ch/apd. News in English are published from time to time: http://www.stanet.ch/apd/news/en.html. For over 30 years, the texts also appear as a monthly summary as "APD INFORMATION" (ISSN 1423-9590). Recipient of this print edition are, in addition to the media, especially archives, libraries, research centers and individuals.
APD Switzerland is in close contact with the Adventist Press Service in Germany. APD Germany, headquartered in Ostfildern, was founded in 1984 and celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. APD Switzerland also enjoys association with other church media agencies, mainly in the USA (ANN) and Australia (Record). Since 2010 Herbert Bodenmann is editor in Chief of APD Switzerland.
From 1974 to 2003 the founder of APD Switzerland, Christian B. Schaeffler, managed on an honorary basis the Communication Department and the Inter-church Relations of the congregational church of Seventh-day Adventists in German-speaking Switzerland. In this capacity he founded the "Adventist Press Service" (APD) in 1974. He was its director and editor in Chief until 2010. Schaeffler was also instrumental in setting up the French Adventist Press Service (BIA - Bulletin d'information adventiste) in 1982 and in 1984 the APD Germany. Since 1992, APD Switzerland and APD Germany are working closely together editorially.
