Heti Válasz — Another opposition publication goes out of business

Heti Válasz, the conservative weekly magazine established by Fidesz in 2001 using public funds, announced that it is suspending its print edition effective immediately. Since 2015, Fidesz politicians and Hungarian civil servants have been prohibited from giving interviews to Heti Válasz, as the publication assumed a more critical tone in relation to the Orbán government after owner Lajos Simicska’s falling out with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The magazine transformed from a loyal and unwavering organ of the ruling party to an independent publication offering measured political analysis from a conservative perspective. It lost 82% of its advertising revenue as a direct consequence. It’s worth noting that much of this revenue came from government ads or from publicly-owned companies, as is the case with almost every other political news publication in Hungary. While Heti Válasz maintained balanced financial operations from 2007 to 2015, it tanked in the past three years and lost a fifth of its readership.

The cover of the last print issue of Heti Válasz.

Gábor Borókai, Heti Válasz’s editor-in-chief and once the spokesperson of the first Orbán government (1998-2002), explained that an American-Hungarian businessman with ties to the Republican Party initially expressed interest in buying Heti Válasz; this after owner Lajos Simicska made it clear following the 8 April election that he was liquidating much of his media empire, including the now defunct Magyar Nemzet daily, Lánchíd Rádió and in short order his weekly magazine as well. The unnamed American businessman, however, decided to pull out, when he realized that it was impossible to make Heti Válasz profitable in light of the Orbán government’s boycott.

The last print issue of Heti Válasz will appear on 7 June. The publishing company has sought bankruptcy protection. Over the next three months, Heti Válasz will appear weekly in digital format only, as the team tries to find a way out of their financial predicament and somehow restructure. In 2018, Heti Válasz sold 10,368  copies per week of the print publication. With this gone, the on-going boycott and now bankruptcy protection, it appears unlikely that Heti Válasz will be able to survive even in just digital format. Mr. Borókai did, however, suggest that the publication could be given a new lease on life with a new team of editors and writers. What this in all likelihood means is that the publication might be taken over by loyal Orbánists, provided that the ruling party wants yet another publication to prop up using taxpayer funds. Each and every Hungarian pro-government publication is being kept alive using lavish taxpayer funding.

“Thank you for all the critical comments, as well as the accolades during the time that we spent together. In order to continue, we wish for everyone, including our friends, as well as our opponents, a good country. We will never give up our belief that we too will have a place in it,” wrote Mr. Borókai in his farewell to the print edition.

The government boycott and the connected collapse of advertising revenue are the most important reasons for the demise of Heti Válasz. But there is another reason too, and Hungarian society must take responsibility for this one. It costs money to produce good content and quality reporting, yet Hungarians seem especially inclined to expect this for free, online. When a skilled Hungarian editor with good name recognition attempted to create a quality, subscription-based political digital publication called Politis, his project failed, as it became abundantly clear that Hungarians were not willing to pay for news, nor to financially support quality journalism. For good, independent journalism, you need a community of Hungarians who care enough that they are willing to open their wallets and support such initiatives.

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *