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April 2nd, 2012

Quotable: Jan Mainka on democracy in Hungary and Germany

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“I am much less worried about democracy in Hungary than in Germany.”

Budapest Times and Budapester Zeitung publisher Jan Mainka, in an interview with newsweekly HVG. Mainka, who arrived in Hungary from East Germany shortly before the system change, brushed off suggestions that the controversial media law put in place by the current government was a threat to freedom of the press, saying "I'm not a media a media lawyer and I don't know the legal climate in other countries." Last year Mainka's company received a HUF 4.75 million contract to deliver 250 copies of his newspapers to state ministries, despite making the same newspapers available for free at restaurants and other locations throughout Budapest. [hvg.hu]
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  • The Mad Professor of Freakanomics

    I agree with some points of the interview in HVG.hu; and to be more specific in what I agree with is that the foreign media is painting a virtual picture of Hungary, which doesn’t always connect with reality, and in most cases never.

    Next, If I may embelish outrageously, soon the foreign media will tell us that there are Undemocratic Godzilla Monsters with Fidesz-KDNP T-Shirts walking around in Budapest, gobbling up raido-stations and tv-stations, or eating up LMP members that are running around doing what they do.

    However, I can’t help but feeling that like many other self-proclaimed publicist with “extensive” journalism background in the Interweb Superinformation Highway era, he is using someone elses cause, to further his own.

    • American in Budapest

      I don’t think you know much about the Hungarian media landscape.

      There is only one news agency in Hungary. It is the public media organization. Most of the elderly don’t even have Internet access. So their only source of information is the Fidesz friendly public media.

      And the layoffs at the public media targeted journalists who posed tough questions to Fidesz.

      • The Mad Professor of Freakanomics

        So 740,000 people watching Egyenes Beszéd is categorized as what?

  • Sure

    I’d say anything Viktor wants for 4.76m and I’m not even in politics or publishing.

  • Jack

    Budapest Times is one big joke, I tell you.

  • enuff

    \HUF 4.75 million contract to deliver 250 copies \

    that’s 4,750,000 / 250 copies = HUF 19000 per copy (?!)

    the newspaper is gold plated?

    • http://www.allhungary.hu Erik D’Amato

      No, it’s likely 250 copies per week, which works out to 19,000 HUF for a yearly subscription, and which is probably close to the list price for whomever actually buys it.

      • Leto Muad’dib

        Just because they provide some free copies to restaurants, I wouldn’t expect them to give all their stuff away.
        BTW, a 4.75 million HUF contract sounds peanuts to me.

      • enuff

        Thanks for clearing that up, Erik.

        btw, couldn’t find their subscription fees on their page.

  • Paul

    Saying “I’m not a media lawyer and I don’t know the legal climate in other countries.” Soooo???
    But he does know where his money comes from. Silly stuff…not to be taken seriously at all. The Media Council is absurd and there is nothing like it within the EU, a subtle way to enforce self censorship within Hungary.

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