''Népszabadság'' (; ) was a major Hungarian newspaper which was formerly the official press organ of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party during the

Hungarian People's Republic The Hungarian People's Republic (HPR) was a landlocked country in Central Europe from its formation on 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Hungary, Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed Communist_state# ...

. Before its closure, ''Népszabadság'' was considered the '' de facto''

newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large newspaper circulation, circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and i ...

for Hungary.

History and profile

''Népszabadság'' was founded on 2 November 1956 during the Hungarian Revolution as successor of '' Szabad Nép'' (Hungarian: ''Free People'') which was established in 1942 as the central organ of the dissolved Hungarian Working People's Party. ''Népszabadság'' was also the organ of the party. At the beginning of the 1990s, following the collapse of the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, the paper was privatized and the owners became Bertelsmann AG Germany (50%), the Free Press Foundation (''Szabad Sajtó Alapítvány'' in Hungarian), a foundation of the Socialist Party ( MSZP) (26%), the First Hungarian Investment Fund (16.8%), and the Editorial Staff Association (6%). In 2005, the paper was acquired by

Ringier Ringier is a media group operating in multiple countries with over 6,500 employees. Founded in 1833, the family-owned business manages media brands across print and digital, TV and radio, and is active in the entertainment and digital marketplac ...

; in 2014, after the Hungarian Competition Authority prevented the merger of Ringier and

Axel Springer Axel Cäsar Springer (2 May 1912 – 22 September 1985) was a German publisher and founder of what is now Axel Springer SE, the largest media publishing firm in Europe. By the early 1960s his print titles dominated the West German daily press m ...

partly because of their ownership of ''Népszabadság'', it was sold to Vienna Capital Partners, which created a subsidy, Mediaworks Hungary Zrt., for its Hungarian media interests. MSZP sold its shares to Mediaworks in 2015. The paper was published in

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...

format and had its main office in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. In 2004, the newspaper secured sufficient funds to build an entirely new, high-capacity, full-color printing facility for its own exclusive use, which was unusual for the Hungarian press. The expanded use of color was meant as a means to help ''Népszabadság'' competitive position among daily newspapers. It had more copies circulated than all of its Hungarian competitors combined, although circulation was already in the process of decline (see below). The paper was close to the MSZP and

Alliance of Free Democrats The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party (, , SZDSZ ) was a liberal political party in Hungary. The SZDSZ was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and of Liberal International. It drew its su ...

(SZDSZ) parties and its editorials often supported, though frequently also criticized, the socialist-liberal government. Its international agenda was usually supportive of the EU's and the USA's policies, though rare criticism included U.S. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

's "democracy export" initiative. ''Népszabadság'' followed the US in calling certain countries rogue states or part of the axis of evil and is somewhat critical of Arab countries, both on political and human rights grounds. Marcell Murányi was appointed as

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

in July 2014. He resigned in May 2015 after being charged with a fatal hit and run, and was replaced in August by his brother András Murányi. Murányi Marcell was eventually sentenced to a jail term suspended for two years; he continued to serve as an advisor for the ''Népszabadság''. The paper was suddenly closed by its owner Mediaworks on 8 October 2016. The journalists were preparing for a move to a new headquarters; on Friday they vacated their old office and were still planning a Sunday opening party in the new office; on Saturday they were told they were all suspended and not allowed to enter the building. Publication ceased and its website was disconnected. The departure of former Mediaworks CEO Balázs Rónai was announced on the same day. Mediaworks announced that the closure was a business decision due to the paper suffering losses. The liquidation of the paper was performed by acting CEO Viktor Katona, who himself resigned (claiming health reasons) on the following Monday, making it impossible for the journalists to negotiate with anyone in charge. The closure was considered by the political left to be the work of governing party

Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; ) is a national-conservative political party in Hungary led by Viktor Orbán. It has increasingly identified as illiberal. Originally formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young Democrats () as ...

acting behind the scenes. Alleged meetings between prime minister

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been the 56th prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has also led the Fidesz political party since 200 ...

and Mediaworks owner Heinrich Pecina over the transfer of ''Népszabadság'' were reported as early as June. Contrary to the owner's assertion of unprofitability, portal 'The Budapest Beacon' commented that after the previous losses, the paper turned a profit of HUF 130 million (US$480,000) in 2015, but does not provide any source or proof for this information. Heinrich Pecina, the owner of the Mediaworks Hungary Zrt said that the decision was based merely on a financial basis: in the last few years the ''Népszabadság'' had a 5 billion Forints loss in total. He also added that he had offered to sell the ''Népszabadság'' to the Hungarian Socialist Party, but they later "had no courage to buy it".

Circulation

''Népszabadság'' had the largest circulation in Hungary until 2002 when it was overtaken by '' Blikk'', a tabloid newspaper and ''Metropol'', a free newspaper. The circulation of ''Népszabadság'' then declined and the number of readers fell significantly in the period between 2005 and 2010. Even so, it had the highest circulation amongst political dailies (the next largest, ''

Magyar Nemzet ''Magyar Nemzet'' ('', '') is a major Hungarian newspaper published in Hungary, and styled itself as "close to the current Hungarian government led by Viktor Orbán" as of 2019. History and profile ''Magyar Nemzet'', a moderate conservative d ...

'', had a circulation of 17,390 in the second quarter of 2016). The following circulation numbers are based on audited data: * 1989: 460 thousand * 1991: 327 thousand * 1993: 305 thousand * 1994: 300 thousand * 1995: 285 thousand * 1998: 225 thousand * 2000: 203 thousand * 2002: 195 thousand * 2003: 172 thousand * 2009: 99,446 * 2010: 70 thousand * 2011: 63 thousand * 2013: 46 thousand * 2016: 37 thousand

Scandals

In 2003, ''Népszabadság'' was subject to a high-profile scandal after the paper published a letter on the front page purportedly from

Edward Teller Edward Teller (; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian and American Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist and chemical engineer who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" and one of the creators of ...

. The letter, later proved to be a fake, appeared in ''Népszabadság'' shortly after the death of the Hungarian-born physicist and known

-sympathiser Teller, claiming to express dissatisfaction with antisemitism and anti-US sentiments in the party. The letter turned out to be written by the retired journalist László Zeley, Teller's Hungarian editor, who tried but failed to convince Teller to sign it. ''Népszabadság'' published the letter without verifying its authenticity, and had to retract it the following day, prompting an ethical reprimand from MÚOSZ (Association of Hungarian Journalists). The editor-in-chief resigned following the affair, and got elected to the head of the Ethical Committee of the MÚOSZ between 2004 and 2011.

Chief editors

* 31 October 1956 – 8 April 1957: Sándor Haraszti * 1957–1961: Dezső Nemes (head of the editorial board) * September 1961 – June 1965: Zoltán Komócsin * 1965–1970: János Gosztonyi * 1970–1974: István Sarlós * 1974–1977: István Katona * 1977–1980: Dezső Nemes * 1980–1982: Péter Várkonyi * 1982–1985: János Berecz * 1985–1989: Gábor Borbély * 1989–2004: Pál Eötvös * 2004–2011: Károly T. Vörös * 2011–2014: Levente Tóth * 2014–2015: Marcell Murányi * 2015 : Péter N. Nagy * 2015–2016: András Murányi

References

External links

Archives
of ''Népszabadság'' (1944–2016) via . {{DEFAULTSORT:Nepszabadsag 1956 establishments in Hungary 2016 disestablishments in Hungary Daily newspapers published in Hungary Defunct newspapers published in Hungary Hungarian-language newspapers Newspapers established in 1956 Newspapers disestablished in the 2010s Newspapers published in Budapest Publications disestablished in 2016 Socialist newspapers