W 016 F

Introduction
I was born on 15, April 1978. In Hungary at that time the freedom of speech was not an unambiguous concept. The lack of free speech was reflected especially in journalism. The articles published on my birthday were less informative than the articles of today. Was there enough information given about foreign affairs? This was the first question that came into my mind as I started my research. So I looked for articles about foreign affairs and analysed them. Of course I did not write about all of them in this research paper. I only selected the articles that were long enough to tell useful information about a foreign affair. Those three lines long articles, which were too popular in those days, contain hardly any information. Also these longer articles are mysterious, but after reading them two or three times, I managed to collect some information about the events. I also compared different newspapers' articles about the same events.

Method
I went to several libraries, but I found useful papers only in JPU’s central library and in JPU’s faculty library. I merely used Hungarian national newspapers: Népszava, Népszabadság, Esti Hírlap. I have chosen them, because in county-papers there are articles mainly about the events of that specific area. I wanted to select information about foreign affairs, and in national-papers I could collect more of them. After I have read the news I elaborated the information I got. From this I tried to select the useful and the useless information. Then, according to the proportion of useful and useless information I established which article was informative and which was not.

Results and Discussion
I have to point out already at the beginning that, on the whole, the articles about socialist countries, under the control of the Soviet Union (Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic, Romania, Jugoslavia and Hungary) contain less information than those about foreign affairs of other countries. If one of these socialist countries of that time was involved in an event of policy, then the journalist did not write down the relevant facts. It may have been because of inner censorship. Pressmen could have written down the whole story, but to prevent possible inconveniences, they cut the articles themselves.

The most important event of that day was the ratificational conference of American - Hungarian Trade Agreement. I found nearly the same article in Népszava as in Népszabadság. The reader could learn that both American and Hungarian trade council took sides with the codification of the agreement (“Megkezdõdött.” Népszabadság 5; “Megkezdõdött.” Népszava 2). But the article in Népszava left out some details of the speech of Matthew Nimetz, the advisor of the Secretary of State, Vance. He said that the agreement will abandon the mutual customs-control, which was earlier a reason for United States having only 1% share in Hungarian foreign trade (“Megkezdõdött.” Népszabadság 5). Népszava left it out possibly because this customs-control topic was taboo at that time. This article is not really informative, but more than some others. Of course I did not get to know what the whole agreement was about, the only information is that this existed. I missed the information about what the contracting parties agreed on.

In those days (around my birthday) the news of kidnapping Aldo Moro shook the world. There were conjectures about the circumstances and the identities of the kidnappers. In Népszabadság Jenõ Faragó reported that it is assumed that Moro’s first prison was a railway-warehouse near to Rome (2). Faragó also reported that according to Rheinische Post an international terrorist group has decided about kidnapping Moro. They had a summit conference held in Switzerland, and it was supposed that, in addition to Italian, also Danish, West German and French terrorists took part in the conference (Faragó 2). In Népszava I have read another supposition. According to this, the Right Wing stated that communists incite the terrorism (Simó 2). What is more, Vito Micelli, the representative of Italian Newfascist Party, declared that Warshaw Pact incites the terrorism (Simó 2). I got fairly enough information about this topic. These were the most informative articles among all the others.

An article about the situation in South-Lebanon was published both in Népszabadság and in Népszava. It is written down in each of them that, in spite of the agreement on ceasefire between the Right Wing and Arab forces, scattered gun-fights continued. We are also reported that the Israeli troops, that occupied a huge part of South-Lebanon, gave back 65 km2 from the occupied 1250 km2 to EU’s temporary forces in Lebanon. Scelim al-Hoss premier of Lebanon and Yasser Arafat argued the latest issues of South-Lebanon. ... At the meeting they made it clear that for both the Lebaneses and the Palestinians the main task is to restore the sovereignity of Lebanon (“A libanoni kormányfõ.” Népszava 2; “A libanoni kormány.” Népszabadság 1). In an interview, transmitted in television, Yasser Arafat stated that, if Israel is unwilling to withdraw from South-Lebanon, then it is an inalienable right for Lebaneses to fight against the agressor (“A libanoni kormányfõ.” Népszava 2; “A libanoni kormány.” Népszabadság 1). I found cuts again in Népszava. They left out Arafat’s statement that, according to information gathered from Henry Kissinger, the former American Secretary of State, Israel had been planning the occupation of South-Lebanon since 1972, and for the idea they got the support of the Nixon-regime and the Ministry of War in Washington (“A libanoni kormány.” Népszabadság 1). Unfortunately, I am not acquainted with this issue, so I do not know why Népszava left it out. But possibly because it was claimed only a rumour, and nobody wanted to venture the opportunity of failure. In spite of this, the articles are fairly detailed and understandable.

There is an article in Népszabadság about Brezhnev’s travel to Far-East. In fact this is a typically elevated demagogic writing on the greatness of the Soviet Union. I did not get useful information about the travel’s purpose, untill I have read the article through three or four times. Then I unravelled that there were some negotiations about the utilization of the Siberian and Far-Eastern natural resources, and Brezhnev met also some soviet soldiers (“A szovjet vezetõ.” 2). The other parts of the text did not tell anything. The whole article was a clutter. There were expressions like: the idea of power politics is totally foreign to the Soviet Union, . . . , and she strives for the improvement of neighbourly relations among states (“A szovjet vezetõ.” 2). There were some words about the armament race, too. The US and the Soviet Union have to renounce the production of neutron arms, and limit the number of strategic arms (“A szovjet vezetõ.” 2). But my favourite sentence was the last one, where the journalist lifted the Soviet Union straight to heavens. I wanted to give back this feeling so I wrote it down in Hungarian. “A Szovjetunió arra fog törekedni, hogy haladást érjen el a leszerelés más, jelenleg tárgyalások témájául szolgáló kérdéseiben, és alapvetõen megjavítsa a nemzetközi légkört”(“A szovjet vezetõ.” Népszabadság 2).

There is a news of a CIA blunder, both in Népszava and in Népszabadság. According to this, CIA agents had lost a portable nuclear driven reconnoitring apparatus at the riverland of Ganges (“Új-Delhi.” Népszava 2; “Az indiai kormány.” Népszabadság 2). From Népszava we can get to know that in 1965 CIA put agents into action, camouflaged mountaineers, in Himalaya to build an observation post on the top of Nanda Devi mountain to notice the Chinese atomic tests. Because of bad weather they could not reach the top, and they hid the apparatus under rocks. But in April 1966 it was covered over by an alavanche. It is assumed that this plutonium isotope, with its murderous effect lasting for 300-500 years, had reached the river system of Ganges by now. It imperils the life and health of millions of Indians (“Új-Delhi.” 2). It is hard to believe that kind of omission could happen. But it did, as Népszava reported me very clearly. This good article gave me the most important information about this theme.

But now come the less informative articles I have ever read. The Somalian president’s visit in China is reported in Népszava in two sentences. In Népszabadság it is a bit longer. We are told that Siad Barre the Somalian President abrogated the agreement of friendship and co-operation with Soviet Union (“A szomáliai elnök.” 2). A fascinating news can be read also here about the dinner held by Deputy Minister Li Hsien-nien. Both the Somalian President and the Chinese host abused the Soviet Union in their toast. The diplomatic representatives of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Mongolian People’s Republic, GDR and the Soviet Union presented there, protested by walking out of the banquet (“A szomáliai elnök.” Népszabadság 2). This is another blinkered article, I just know that the Soviet Union was offended, but I do not know why and by what. They might had right as well.

There was a Hungarian - Ghanaian meeting on my birthday. It could have been really important, because Népszabadság, Népszava, and even Esti Hírlap dealt with it on the first page. We could learn that György Lázár, President of the Council of Ministers, received Roger Joseph Felli colonel, Foreign Minister of Ghanaian Republic. ... At the cordial, friendly atmosphered conversations also Frigyes Puja, Foreign Minister, and Alax Arthur Crabbe, ambassador of Ghanaian Republic, accredited also in Budapest, took part. ... About the negotiations an anouncement will be published (“Lázár György.” Népszabadság 1; “Lázár György” Népszava 1). From Esti Hírlap we can even get to know the names of people who bid farewell to the Ghanaian Foreign Minister at the airport. But no details are told about the negotiations. It is promised that an anouncement will be published, but who would read it? I found many other articles like this. These articles seem to be just for one purpose, to fill the newspapers in. These ones did not give any useful information.

Conclusion
According to my results, the articles were not informative at all. Of course there were articles that reported the main details of an event, but there were few of them. The articles about socialist countries contain little useful information. I wanted to compare these Hungarian articles with foreign ones. Unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to get some copies of them. But my research could be a useful basis for further research on comparing Hungarian and foreign articles. It could be used for finding out why some important information was left out from Hungarian papers, and what they were.