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Introduction

Reading old newspapers may make you realize what has and what has not changed during the years. Politics control our life and can alter the history radically. But there are things that need decades to go through such changes.

I was born on 12th October 1976. The easiest way to get to know what happened at that time is to examine newspapers which were published on that day.

Comparing a 12 October, 1976 issue to a 12 October, 1997 one, I noticed that certain articles from the 1976 issue could have been found in the 1997 publication, too - either because of the durable subject they deal with or because the persons, institutions or political terms involved in the articles still exist. This paper presents the results of this comparison.

Method

I started my research with copying the suitable publication of Zalai Hírlap (my birthplace is Nagykanizsa, Zala county).

The newspaper of the 12th October consisted of 8 pages. I looked into the pages one by one, counted the articles and analysed them. After analysing them I decided how many of them
could have been put into the newspaper published on the same day twenty-one years later.
I divided the articles into three groups:

Group 1 - the articles which can be put into the new newspaper word for word
Group 2 - the articles which can be put into the new newspaper with some minor modifications
Group 3 - the articles which cannot be put into the new newspaper because of having lost their validity
Using these categories I made a comparison between the number of articles in the old newspaper and the new one.

Results and Discussion

Page 1 Headline
5 articles

The headline included: - name (Zalai Hírlap)
- price (80 fillér)
- subtitle (az MSZMP Zala Megyei Bizottságának lapja)
- slogan (Világ Proletárjai Egyesüljetek)
- date (1976. október 12.)
- volume (XXXII.)
- issue (241.)

The headline will not belong to any of the groups. It can only be put into the newspaper with major modifications. There is no category like that, but as there is no newspaper without it, I will have a similar headline.

Article 1 Befejezõdött a fejlõdési béke-világkonferencia
The article is about a peace conference held by the UN in Hungary.
Political terms written in the article: MSZMP Politikai Bizottsága
Hazafias Népfront
Országos Béketanács

Since these names are not used any more, and the political situations have changed, the article will belong to Group 3 - G 3

2 Vetik a búzát, késik a kukoricabetakarítás
Sowing of wheat and harvesting of maize

There is only one word to change: termelõ szövetkezet (agricultural co-operative). Agricultural co-operatives no longer exist in Hungary. They are succeeded by Ltds or other typically capitalist companies. The difference between them is that they are not state-owned enterprises.
The article ranks among G 2

3 Súlyos harcok Libanon déli részén
Fights in Lebanon between the Palestinians and the Lebanese

There are still conflicts between the ethnic groups in Lebanon. At that time the leaders of the fights were Kamai Dzumblatt and Hassan Sabri El-Kholi. Today they have other heads, so with the exception of the two names the article can be put into the newspaper.

G 2
4 Losonczi Pál Limába érkezett
Hungarian - Peruvian governmental conference
None of the people mentioned are in their posts any more, for example Foreign Minister Garai Róbert, or some of them have died, for example Losonczi Pál, President of the Presidental Council.

G 3
5 Értelmes óvatossággal
Children involved in traffic accidents

The article gives parents some good advice about how to teach children to take part in traffic and how traffic accidents can be avoided. Children get the same advice even today, so the article can be put into the new newspaper word for word.
G 1

Summing up what has been written:
Group/Article

Page 2 5 articles

Three out of the five articles are continuations from Page 1.

The other two:
1 A fejlõdési béke-világkonferencia...
Final document of the Peace World Conference
The article is about the same conference as article 1 on Page 1
G 3
2 A Portugál KP VIII. kongresszusának tézise
Congress held in Lisbon by the Portuguese Communist Party
The political system has changed in Portugal.
G 3

Page 3 6 article
1 Jelentõs összegek gépesítésre, munkavédelemre...
Improvements in the brickworks in Zala
Except for the expression five-year plan, the article could have been written in 1997, too.
G 2
2 Új gázvezeték épül Zalában
New gas-pipes built in Zala
The whole article can be put into the new newspaper.
G 1
The other four articles on this page deal with topics that are out of place nowadays.
G 3

Page 4 7 articles
This is the page that all daily papers have. Those people who are not interested in politics and current events can look at the world from another point of view. On this page you can read about how a pregnant woman has to be taken care of, and you can get some cooking and fancy work ideas. You can also find out where it is worth going on a trip and see where medical science has got in solving a serious problem: obesity grown to pathological size.

Page 5 5 articles
1 Készülõdés az Ady centenáriumra
The hundredth anniversary of the birth of Ady Endre
As 21 years have passed since then and the whole article is about the centenary, it ranks
among G 3
2 Japán muzsikus...
Concert in Zalaegerszeg where Kobayashi Ken-Ichiro was the conductor
Kobayashi Ken-Ichiro still works, the pieces of music are still played.
G 1
3 Van foganatja a bírálatoknak
Complaints books in Nagykanizsa
This report concerns too many facts in connection with the complaints of the year 1976.
G 3
4 Kokain, gerozán, aceton
Report about medicines kept in stock
One name - German Democratic Republic - has to be exchanged.
G 2
5 TV figyelõ
Review of a television play, an interview made by Vitray Tamás and a quiz show
Without the review of the quiz show - there is no more a show with this name - the article is
suitable (obviously only if these programmes are on TV the previous evening)

Page 6 4 sports article + A serialized novel
1 Labdarúgó NB II és NB III
Reports from three football matches
The players and the names of the teams have changed.
G 3
2 Õrzi veretlenségét a MÁV NTE
Reports from the county championships
See article 2
G 3
3 Idegenben nyertek a ...
Chess and handball championships
G 3
4 Már csak három pont...
Formula-1
Niki Lauda is not a Formula-1 driver any more and there is no race in the USA.
G 3
5 Szeberényi Lehel: A Rém (részlet)
An extract from a crime fiction
G 1

Page 7 1 article + 3 obituaries
3 expressions of thanks
40 small ads
1 Száraztészták
The advantages of dried pasta
The prices - pasta with four eggs 15 Ft/kg - has to be changed

Obituaries and expressions of thanks
After exchanging the names, it will belong to G 2

Small ads
32 of them could have been in the 1997 issue word for word
G 1
4 of them can be put into it, if we exchange the old names of the streets with the new ones
(Landler J. u., Lenin u.)

G 2
4 of them cannot be put into the new newspaper because the establishments they advertise
do not exist any more.

Page 8 7 articles
weather
Radio, TV, cinema programmes
calendar
10 special reports
1 Autóvásár...
Cars market
Cars are still to buy on markets
G 1
The other 6 articles will belong to G 2. Three of them were written about events that could have been held in 1997, too. One of them was written about a competition on poetry, and the third one was a symposium on traffic safety.
The remaining 3 articles were written about local news, for example accidents in Zala, fire in wine-cellars and a short report on the weakness of the post-office services.

Weather: the climate of Hungary has not changed, the weather might be the same.
G 1
Radio, TV...: The programmes may be the same.

G 1
Calendar: all the events may be written, but the data have to be changed.

Special reports
5 eg Train accident
Hot-air balloon attempt fails
G 1
3 with certain changes
eg Liz Taylor was engaged to John Warner

A Summary Table

Final result:
Out of 100 articles (small ads, weather, etc.) - considering the given conditions - 77 articles
might have been in the new newspaper.

Conclusion

The results I arrived at were beyond all my expectation. It was surprising that so many articles preserved their validity in spite of the fact that 21 years have passed since the publication time of the newspaper.

The changes in the political system had a great effect on journalism. Names and expressions peculiar to socialism are not used any more, only in articles written about the recent past of the country.

Civil rights have also changed the style: names of people taking part in crimes or accidents must not be referred to.

Those contributions keep their validity that study topics ignoring politics.