Double Life of a Scandal Journalist: Plagiarism in the Federal Palace, Destroying Livelihoods in the Hunting Forest

He was regarded as one of the most influential right-wing opinion-makers in German-speaking Switzerland.

Dominik Feusi, deputy editor-in-chief of the «Nebelspalter», hobby hunter and close confidant of publisher Markus Somm, stood on the verge of what was supposed to be the high point of his career: on 1 July he was to move to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) as a Federal Palace correspondent in the business section. Instead, his reputation lies in ruins.

But the real scandal is bigger than a case of plagiarism.

The milieu that shaped Feusi

To understand the Feusi case, one has to understand what the «Nebelspalter» has become under Markus Somm. The former satirical magazine was deliberately rebuilt into a far-right platform: close to the SVP, pro-hunting, culture-war-driven. Feusi was no marginal figure in this, but its face and its driving force. Together with Somm he runs the podcast «Bern einfach», the flagship of this opinion-making.

This milieu is no coincidence. As we documented in our article on the overlaps between hobby hunters and right-wing extremists, far-right circles and organised hobby hunting share far more than just a love of weapons: the same enemy-image thinking, the same readiness to use violence as a problem-solving tool, the same sect-like sealing-off from criticism. Terms such as «predator», «pest» or «plague» are not biological categories but disparaging rhetoric meant to legitimise killing. And journalists like Feusi carry this rhetoric straight out of the hunting forest into public discourse.

Somm himself narrowly failed in 2015 to become NZZ editor-in-chief, blocked by resistance from the editorial staff. Now his closest comrade-in-arms, Feusi, was to follow him in. A Trojan horse from the right-wing opinion-maker milieu.

90 per cent stolen from London

Investigations by Blick have now revealed that, in October 2024, Feusi copied around 90 per cent of a Middle East analysis from the British daily «Telegraph», translated it into German, and published it in the «Nebelspalter» under his own name. The original text was written by «Telegraph» commentator Allister Heath. Feusi took over not only paragraphs, but also the structure, arguments, historical examples, metaphors and conclusions.

«Nebelspalter» chief Somm tried to keep the incident under wraps. The article was subsequently amended with source citations, accompanied by a note that the first version had «mistakenly omitted the sources». A brazen trivialisation of an outright plagiarism.

When Blick confronted the NZZ with the findings, Feusi's contract was dissolved even before his first working day. Feusi publicly professed contrition: «There is absolutely no excuse for what I did. This is a clear plagiarism, something like this must not happen.»

Yet while he portrays himself outwardly as remorseful, his private conduct has long painted an entirely different picture.

An independent journalist had to go before Feusi arrived

What goes almost unnoticed in the reporting on the plagiarism scandal is the real collateral damage: when it became known in the NZZ newsroom that Feusi was to join as a Federal Palace editor, the long-serving, pro-European head of the Federal Palace desk, Fabian Schäfer, resigned. In the industry it is considered an open secret that Feusi was the reason for this prominent departure. Shortly before, the renowned economics expert Hansueli Schöchli had already left the NZZ for political reasons.

This is the real pattern: it is not Feusi alone who is the problem, but the pull that his type of journalism generates. Independent, serious editors leave a publication when right-wing opinion makers move in. This is not an isolated observation, but a structural phenomenon that is becoming ever more apparent at the NZZ under editor-in-chief Eric Gujer, who has for years consistently steered the paper towards a staunchly right-liberal course.

Hunting lobby, intimidation and coordinated abuse of the justice system

Beyond the plagiarism, a leaked email exchange reveals how Feusi operated away from the editorial office. In messages to hunting official Hanspeter Egli, he sketched out an aggressive campaign against the hunting critic Carl Sonnthal and IG Wild beim Wild. His aim was not factual debate, but organised destruction of someone's livelihood.

In the jargon of a hardliner, Feusi wrote: «He will launch even more complaints. The goal is to silence Sonnthal completely. […] The more complaints there are, the sooner he disappears from view.»

This is not journalism. This is the coordinated abuse of the justice system as an instrument of intimidation: a flood of criminal complaints designed to wear down critical voices financially and psychologically. Exactly the same logic that far-right circles have used for years against unwelcome opponents, here applied to the hobby hunting lobby's battle against its critics.

Cronyism reaching into federal politics

Feusi advised the JagdSchweiz association to hire the same lawyer «to coordinate the matter» – namely Thierry Burkhart, FDP member of the Council of States. A journalist who was supposed to report independently from the Federal Palace simultaneously exploited top politicians and criminal law to silence animal welfare critics.

This is the circle that closes: far-right media, the hobby hunting lobby and federal politics as a coordinated network that does not answer criticism but destroys it. That Feusi, as the NZZ's Federal Palace correspondent, should have been reporting on precisely these entanglements is the bitterest twist in the whole affair.

A resounding slap in the face in court

The intimidation tactic failed completely. The JagdSchweiz association dragged IG Wild beim Wild before the criminal court of the canton of Ticino in Bellinzona over alleged defamation. The result: full acquittal on all counts. Judge Siro Quadri stated unequivocally that fact-based criticism of hobby hunting is legally permissible expression of opinion in the public interest. The association also got a bloody nose before the civil court in Locarno: the proceedings were entirely suspended.

Erfolg: Verband Jagd Schweiz verliert

The legally binding judgment sets a clear standard: those who take part in public debate cannot lock away uncomfortable truths with criminal complaints. We continue to document more on crime in the environment of hobby hunting on an ongoing basis.

A system that exposes itself

The Dominik Feusi case is no operational accident. It is the logical outcome of a milieu that places opinion above craft, ideology above integrity, and networking above independence. A hobby hunter and right-wing opinion-maker who falsifies texts, wears down critics with floods of lawsuits and harnesses federal politicians for lobbying campaigns is not a journalist. He is the extended arm of a lobby.

And the fact that his rise at the NZZ caused a serious Federal Palace journalist to leave the house before Feusi had even worked a single day says everything about the weight that this type of journalism exerts on independent editorial offices.

Whoever sits in the glass house of falsified articles should not try to shatter the livelihood of animal welfare activists through mass lawsuits.