W 045 F

Draft 3

1 Introduction

1.1 The newspaper

Tolna Megyei Népújság used to be the name of the local newspaper of Tolna, Hungary`s second smallest county. After the change of regime in 1989 its title was modified to Tolnai Népújság, so as to indicate the changing of its owner. In 1977 it was "Az MSZMP Tolna Megyei Bizottságának Lapja", suggested by the subtitle as well. The motto of the newspaper invited the world`s proletarians to unite (Világ proletárjai, egyesüljetek!). Some members of the 1977 staff are still working for Tolnai Népújság today, for instance Gemenci József and Gottvald Károly, one of the photographers. The paper was funded in 1950, so the February 2, 1977 edition was the 27th issue of the 25th volume.

1.2 The project

This edition will be the topic of the present analysis, which will discuss the usage of three news values in the articles. The purpose of the research is to demonstrate the relationship between the news values and the stories, and to show how proximity, recency and superlativeness dominate the three front-page articles. These reports will be the main focus of the paper, which will also take a look at the rest of the printed matter. Each of the three news values will be highlighted in one or more of the articles.

2.1 News in the issue

In the February 2, 1977 edition of Tolna Megyei Népújság, there were three foreign news stories, all of which appeared on the inside front cover: one on the arrest of criminals in Spain, one on the conference of the Foreign Ministers of the Common Market`s member-states, and one on the meeting between Saddam Hussein and Aleksey Kosigin. Three articles were concerned with events relating to he country; namely, the talks between Hungarian and Yugoslavian politicians, a report printed on the front page; the arrival of a Greek delegation, a short description on the inside front cover; and an account of the communist countries` foreign policy on the same page. Two stories on the front page, three of them on page 3 and four of them on page 5 referred to local matters. The "Panoráma" section of the edition disclosed brief versions of foreign news; there was a letters to the editor column, and the 20th chapter of a serialized novel. The 6th page was entirely dedicated to sporting events, while page 7 included advertisements, tv, radio and movies program and the obituary. The last page comprised various pieces of information, among them a weather forecast for the next day.

2.2 News values

2.2.1 Proximity

2.2.1.1 Definition

Proximity, recency and superlativeness are to be highlighted in the three front page articles. Proximity is the news value that concerns the nearness of the readers and the location of the event. "Geographical closeness can enhance news value" (Bell 1991 quoted in Horváth 1996:1), so an incident which is ignored in a distant settlement may be of importance or of interest to the local community. Proximity is one of the factors that make newspapers different: besides world or country affairs, the regional papers report local events as well. While the interpretation of the former ones is roughly the same in all forms of press, it is the latter ones that cause the difference. Naturally, the readers in a far-away place will not be interested in the inauguration of a new kindergarten in a small town, but the local paper will probably treat it as a major issue.

2.2.1.2 Identification

One of the front page articles in the February 2, 1977 edition of Tolna Megyei Népújság was strongly characterized by proximity. The story, entitled "Ismét tél jött" and illustrated with two photographs, dealt with the preceding day`s snowing in Szekszárd and its surroundings (Sz. L. 1977:1). It gave a detailed account of the removing of the snow, and the problems it had caused in the county`s traffic. The first paragraph informed the readers about the quantity of the snow that had fallen; the second and the third paragraphs detailed the efforts of the Road Patrol Directory to clear the town`s roads and those of the county. The fourth paragraph covered an accident that had happened owing to the snowing. It was included in the fifth paragraph that the ambulances experienced no serious difficulty reaching the region`s settlements, though they had been somewhat slower than usual. The sixth and seventh paragraphs dealt with the fact that some of the buses and trains had been late. The article was finished with a short forecast for the oncoming day.

2.2.1.3 Interpretation

Proximity had great significance in this coverage. The former day`s snowing was treated as a front page matter because it had taken place in Tolna county, so it had had a direct impact on the lives of the readers of Tolna Megyei Népújság.. News on the weather are normally announced on the last page of this newspaper. The unusual degree of attention that the snowing received was due to its location.

2.2.2 Recency

2.2.2.1 Definition

Recency is another news value. As its name suggests, the most typical feature of news is its freshness. What are worth reporting are the latest happenings or developments and not the old, well-known stories. Monthlies include information concerning the past one month, weeklies cover the issues of the latest seven days, and, obviously, daily papers publish mainly the events of the previous 24 hours. "The day is the basic news cycle for the press" (Bell 1991 quoted in Horváth 1996:1), including Tolna`s daily.

2.2.2.2 Identification

In the February 2, 1977 issue of it, there was an account of a meeting between politicians that took place on the 1st of February (N. A.1977:1) The unsigned article told about the program of Milos Minic, Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia, who had been received by Kádár János, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers` Party and by Lázár György, President of the Council of Ministers. The article described Minic`s day and it was illustrated with a photograph of Milos Minic and Kádár János. Minic was reported to have been received by Kádár János in the House of the Central Committee, and by Lázár György in his office. (N. A. 1997:1). The article carried on with a list of ministers and embassadors participating in the talks, and then detailed the wreath-laying ceremony of the politicians at the Hõsök tere in Budapest. The report ended with the description of the exchange of views that had taken place between Milos Minic and Puja Frigyes, Foreign Minister of Hungary. The article was constructed of seven short paragraphs.

2.2.2.3 Interpretation

Its publishing was verified by it being recent, the event was considered as a piece of news because it had happened the day before. Without this feature it would not have been news, only a story.

2.2.3. Superlativeness

2.2.3.1 Definition

The third front page article is characterized by containing superlativeness as well as recency and proximity. Superlativeness is a frequently occurring news value. It can carry both positive and negative meanings in the sense that it may mean the fastest runner of the Olympic Games, which is a positive piece, or the most tragic airplane-crash in the history of flying, which is definitely negative. The more extreme an event or a feature of a person is, the greater chance that it will be announced in various types of the media.

2.2.3.2 Identification

The third front page article in the February 2, 1977 edition of Tolna Megyei Népújság operated with superlativeness. It was entitled "Számitógép az ágyak között" (Szepesi. 1977:1), and it was a 5-paragraph account of a breakthrough in the Hungarian system of curing in hospitals. The article informed the readers that on 1st February "fontos állomásához érkezett az a több éve tartó munka, amelynek célja a számitástechnika bevezetése a gyógyitásba" (Szepesi. 1977:1), and then it explained that a computer had been installed in the hospital wards, whose presence would make the doctors` work easier by providing instant information about the patients` data. It was also highlighted in the coverage that the new device would take the burden of paperwork off the hospital staff`s shoulders. The longest paragraph was dedicated to detailing the fact that the new computer-based system was the first such attempt in the country, and since being so, it was of an experimental nature. The main point of the article was that Szekszárd was the first place in Hungary that had computerized hospital wards.

2.2.3.3 Interpretation

The fact that it was the longest paragraph which contained superlativeness proves that this was the most important news value in the article. Proximity and recency are also present _-- this, however, is inevitable, as the newspaper was published in Szekszárd, the same place where the event happened, and as it is a characteristic feature of newspapers that they include recent news.

2.3 News sources

In the February 2, 1977 edition of Tolna Megyei Népújság, there were four articles on the front page, all of which considering home news. Three of them were written by local journalists and one was unsigned. The second page consisted of six articles, two of which were signed by journalists, and one signed MTI, that is, Magyar Távirati Iroda. The "Panoráma" section of the page contained a selection of short, unsigned foreign news. There were three signed coverages on both page 3 and page 4 and four of them on plus an unsigned one on page 5. Page 6 was dedicated to sport news: unsigned reports with one exception. On the seventh page there were three unsigned accounts, a photo of a new museum in Budapest, advertisments and the description of various programs. The last page comprised five short signed articles, a weather forecast and several unsigned news items.

3 Summary

The present assignment demonstrated the use of 3 news values in a Hungarian newspaper from the 1970`s. It showed how proximity, recency and superlativeness were used in the February 3, 1977 edition of Tolna Megyei Népújság, the newspaper of Tolna county. The paper was written, edited and published in Szekszárd, the county town. The paper contained foreign news (for instance: "Külügyminiszteri értekezlet Londonban" (N. A. 1977:2)) and home news. The latter one included both nationwide (for instance: "Kádár János és Lázár György fogadta Milos Minicset" (N. A. 1977:1)), and local matters (for example: "Galij, a paksi mérnök" (G. J. 1977:3)). The newspaper`s articles were characterized by recency in practically all of the cases, and very often by proximity as well. Other news values could also be indicated in the edition, such as relevance or personalization. There was no article, however, that contained eliteness.