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Introduction

I have heard and learned many things about the Hungarian Communist regime. However, studying contemporary newspaper articles may reveal new pieces of information. It is not only an exiting project, but a useful one as well. The articles I will analyse are even more interesting for me, as they appeared on March 29, 1977, the following day I was born. So I can learn about the events that happened exactly on my birthday.

To provide some background knowledge to my presentation, I will summarise the political situation of Hungary in the late 70s.

During the Communist period, the Hungarian government promulgated a series of long-range economic development plans, in which the emphasis was on industrialisation. Neglecting consumer goods, the government devoted its investment to establish heavy industry. All wholesale and most enterprises were under state supervision. About half of the annual foreign trade was with the USSR and with other communist nations. Although the government increased trade and cultural contacts with non-Communist countries in the late 70s, according to Károly Szerencsés the effects of these were “not essential” at that time (1991, p.112).

The Hungarian Social Worker’s Party (HSWP) dominated the nation’s political life. The centralised, upper power had an adverse effect not only on economy, but on the press as well. The economic consequences are well-known, but we may know little about its influence on the Hungarian press. Reading contemporary newspapers may help us to understand how politics worked in journalism.

The primary function of the press was to promote the aims of the HSWP. It invariably reflected government views in a biased, subjective manner.

In this presentation I intend to reveal how the Communist regime influenced the Hungarian Press; in what form people could learn of the events in Hungary and around the world. I will analyse articles from Népszabadság--the Central Newspaper of HSWP-- and from a local paper, Dunántúli Napló. Both issues were published on March 29, 1977.

Method

Since some of the readers may not be familiar with the political background of
Hungary during the 70s, I provided a short summary relevant to understand the connections.

The first stage in my draft involved the selection of the major topics I intended to deal with. As my research question covered a huge area I had to cut down on the topics. Finally, five major parts left: Domestic Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Agriculture and Industry, and Advertising.

Reading the given issues of Népszabadság and Dunántúli Napló, in the second stage, I marked off the articles I found applicable for my research question. I focused mainly on domestic and foreign affairs, since these two topics could best reflect the political situation of Hungary in the late 70s. I was amazed to discover the connections between the articles appeared on 29.03.1977 and the political system at that time. Finally, to illustrate this and to get a general outline, I studied the articles from special points of view: style, characteristic features, language usage. Using my notes, I arranged my materials and built up my research paper through which I would present my observations.

Results and discussions

The most striking feature of the articles was that an overwhelming majority of them contained or were based on statistics, surveys and reports. With these data, the press, which was censored by the government, tried to demonstrate the dynamic progress in people’s economy, education, and movement; the effectiveness of the public, the common.

To demonstrate this and other features in details, I grouped the similar articles together. Thus I will deal separately with Domestic Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Agriculture and Industry, and Advertising.

Domestic affairs

In Népszabadság, the only news on the front-page dealing with domestic policy was about János Kádár, the Secretary of the Central Board of HSWP, and György Lázár, the President of the President Council. They received V.G. Kulikov, the Marshal of the United Military Forces (Kádár János).

Other reports on domestic affairs were similar. They informed people of sessions (A SZOT, Ülést tartott az FKBT, Ülést tartott), competitions, rewards and awards (Baranya gyõzött, Gépírónõk versenye, Kitüntették Kitüntetések).
The prizes in the competitions were characteristic of the system: holidays in pioneer camps in Hungary, or, for the luckier ones, trips to the Soviet Union or to other socialist countries. To emphasize the importance of the working class, labourers could win decorations. I came across three kinds of awards: Hero of Socialist Labour, Order of Labour, For the Socialist Country Decoration.

Foreign Affairs

The foreign policy of Hungary was unilateral; one could notice it at once reading the March 29,1977 issue of Népszabadság, and Dunántúli Napló. The main focus was on the communist states.

Josip Broz Tito, the Head of the Jugoslav Communist Union (JKSZ), gave several lectures in different party schools. He emphasised the importance of the communists in Jugoslavia; they had to keep and develop the traditions acquired during the revolution, and strengthen the unity of the country. He declared that the Communist Party would be guided by those [the Marxist and Leninist] ideas and that the Jugoslav reality should inspire communists (Tito a JKSZ feladatairól).

From the column “Külföldi Események néhány sorban”, people could find the answers to who-travelled-where-to-do-what questions. For example, Gustav Husák, the President of Czechoslovakia and secretary of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party (CSKP), finished his visit in Poland, where he took part in a friendly meeting. On the same day, Army-General Giap, the Vice-President of Vietnam, travelled to Berlin to meet Army-General Karl-Heinz Hoffmann (Külföldi).

However, I found some articles dealing not only with Communist countries. One of them was about the Soviet-American negotiations, which took place in the Kreml, Moscow, Soviet Union (Megkezdõdtek a szovjet-amerikai tárgyalások). The subjects of the talks were similar to that of today: the prohibition of the most destructive weapons and nuclear experiments, and the settlement of the Far-East conflict.

Other reports on non-Communist countries were short and meaningless. They did not provide the people with sufficient information to get a clear idea what was happening outside the iron curtain. One article said only one sentence: Mario Soares, the Prime Minister of Portugal paid a short official visit to Oslo (24 óra a nagyvilágban).

Another piece of news dealt with a failed putsch in Thailand. The situation was tense; citizens were banned from leaving Bangkok, the capital. Szangad Szalou, the Defence Secretary of Thailand stated that if the soldiers proved to be guilty, they would be executed” (Továbbra is).

Foreign Trade

I can describe the foreign trade of Hungary with one appropriate newspaper title from Népszabadság: The foreign trade with the socialist countries increased according to the plans (Tervszerûen bõvül). As the title indicates, the emphasis was on plans, statistics, numbers and percentages. In that particular article official statistics showed that the imports of Hungary had increased by 14%, while the exports by 8% since the previous year. The main commercial partner was the USSR (with an annual 3,5 thousand million rouble); but the trade with Romania (813 million rouble), Poland (773 million rouble), German Democratic Republic (1,3 thousand million rouble), and with the Czechslovakia (635 million rouble) was also significant.

Another survey demonstrated the increase of the GDP and of the average wages. The press of the communist countries described the results of a five-year plan as ”Magabiztos lépés”, “Újabb siker”, “Dinamikus start” (Dinamikus fejlõdés).

Agriculture and Industry

A new dairy-factory was inaugurated in Szombathely on Monday. The article said that one hundred thousand litres of milk arrived at the factory every day. This huge amount of milk was stored in three stainless silos. The modern equipment made it possible to produce 45 thousand litres of pure milk, 8,000 litres of milk chocolate, 6,500 litres of sour cream, 1,000 litres of yoghurt, 250 litres of double cream, and 4200 kilos of butter, daily (Ma avatják).

Besides bulk production, small-scale production was important as well. An appropriate example of that was János Joó, who won the title of “ the best cowman in the county [Baranya] ”. He had four cows and three heifers on his farm. They gave 70 litres of milk daily, which meant 27,000 litres annually. With this amount he had won several competitions the previous years (Joó János).

The Beremend Cement Factory also set a new record in production. On Sunday it fulfilled its five-year plan; the production of four million tons of cement. In the following weeks it intended to produce 18 000 tons plus cement (A négymilliomodik).

The Hungarian National Bank gave Fts 148 million in credits to the AFIT. From this money the factory in Sopron could invest in modern equipment. The expenditures would recover within two years (Gumiüzemet kap).

Advertisements

Advertisements also reflected the political and economic situation of Hungary. Two typical sections of that time were the “Szerencse Tárgysorsjáték Nyereményjegyzéke” and the “Gépkocsik elõjegyzési sorszámai”. People had to search among the complicated lists of numbers. It must have been a kind of brain exercise for many of them. When I first read the “Lottonyeremények gyorslistája” column, it may have been the popular Hungarian game “Gazdálkodj Okosan”. Similarly to the game, people could win portable and stereo radios, fridges, colour TVs, kitchen equipment, music centres, and Zsiguli cars”.

The Situations Vacant/Wanted column was striking for me, as only a few people were looking for job, while, on the other hand, many jobs were offered. Among those jobs I found only manual ones such as locksmith, engine fitter, skilled-and unskilled worker, joiner, cleaner, bricklayer, turner, and factory hand.

Conclusion

Analysing the articles, I met an entirely different world from that of today. It is obvious, however, that the difference comes from the political background of Hungary in the 70s. The upper leadership censored the press; only the harmless pieces of information reached the people. This is the reason why I did not find articles dealing with American or Western films, celebrities, extravagant receptions or anything in connection with wealth, democracy, freedom. The HSWP created a world, where citizens were isolated from the western world. The way of thinking of the people has changed. Since much information and many facts were frozen, people did not know about the real events, nor were they aware of their being oppressed. They were entirely happy with their lives; or at least they were not allowed to show the opposite.

Reading the articles, I felt as if they had been written to children. Usually their style was very simple. The frequency of certain words--such as comrade, The Party, development, profusion, equality, working class, labour movement, labour-council, labour plan--would indicate a kind of welfare society, where everybody was happy and contented. If I did not have any background knowledge about the topic, I would have thought the articles funny stories or jokes.

I found this project valuable and useful. Reading the articles, I got closer to March 29, 1997, so thus to myself.