Publisher of daily Népszabadság suspends paper’s operations

Budapest, October 8 (MTI) – The publishing company of Hungarian political daily Népszabadság said on Saturday it has suspended the publication of both the print and online editions of the paper until it comes up with a new business model.

Népszabadság’s circulation has shrunk by 74 percent, or about 100,000 copies, over the past ten years and the daily has as a consequence accumulated over 5 billion forints (EUR 16.4m) in losses since 2007 and faces significant losses this year, too, Mediaworks said in a statement.

Operating under its current business model, Népszabadság ” is adversely affecting the performance” of the publishing group, Mediaworks said, adding that “the long-term future of the group and of more than 1,000 employees, as well as the group’s publications will depend on the editorial offices, readership and the publications’ economic success”.

The publisher said it will focus on finding the best business model for the paper in order to preserve it in future.

Parallel with its decision to suspend the paper’s operation, Mediaworks said it is relieving Népszabadság’s staff and temporarily suspending services with contracted partners. Subscribers will be offered different publications and partly reimbursed.

Mediaworks chief financial officer Viktor Katona will take over the tasks of chief executive officer Balázs Rónai, who has asked to leave the company.

Népszabadság issued its Saturday print edition, but its online edition nol.hu was unavailable as of Saturday morning.

The opposition Socialists said that the suspension of Népszabadság’s operation marks a “black day” in the history of the Hungarian press and press freedom since the democratic transition.

Népszabadság, which has served as one of the leading organs of the opposition press over the past 25 years, has been “practically turned off” in a move which “cannot be explained by financial losses,” Ágnes Kunhalmi, the leader of the party’s Budapest chapter, told a press conference.

She noted that Népszabadság had recently published reports on “scandals surrounding the National Bank of Hungary and György Matolcsy”, its governor, as well as the “helicopter affair” of cabinet office chief Antal Rogán, and asked whether the paper’s suspension could be related to these stories. She added that business circles close to governing Fidesz had earlier ruined news portals Origo and Vs.hu, commercial broadcaster TV2 and the Pannon Lapok group of newspapers, while turning state media into a “party propaganda mouthpiece”.

“What is happening in Hungary evokes Putin’s Russia,” said Kunhalmi, adding that her party is organising a demonstration to express solidarity with Népszabadság and for press freedom on Saturday evening.