Népszabadság
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Mediaworks Hungary Zrt. (99.9%) → Vienna Capital Partners |
| Editor | András Murányi |
| Founded | 2 November 1956 |
| Political alignment | Left-wing |
| Language | Hungarian |
| Ceased publication | 8 October 2016 |
| Headquarters | Budapest |
| Website | www |
Népszabadság (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈneːpsɒbɒtʃaːɡ], means "Liberty of the People") was a major left-leaning Hungarian newspaper.
Népszabadság was founded on 2 November 1956 during the Hungarian Revolution as successor of Szabad Nép (meaning Free People in English) which was established in 1942 as the central organ of the dissolved Hungarian Working People's Party.Népszabadság was also the organ of the party.
At the beginning of the 1990s, following the collapse of the communist regime, the paper was privatized and the owners became Bertelsmann AG Germany (50%), the Free Press Foundation (Szabad Sajtó Alapítvány in Hungarian), a foundation of the Socialist Party (MSZP) (26%), the First Hungarian Investment Fund (16.8%), and the Editorial Staff Association (6%). In 2005, the paper was acquired by Ringier; in 2014, after the Hungarian Competition Authority prevented the merger of Ringier and Axel Springer partly because of their ownership of Népszabadság, it was sold to Vienna Capital Partners, which created a subsidy, Mediaworks Hungary Zrt., for its Hungarian media interests. MSZP sold its shares to Mediaworks in 2015.
The paper was published in broadsheet format and had its main office in Budapest. In 2004, the newspaper secured sufficient funds to build an entirely new, high-capacity, full-color printing facility for its own exclusive use, which was unusual for the Hungarian press. The expanded use of color was meant as a means to help Népszabadság's competitive position among daily newspapers. It had more copies circulated than all of its Hungarian competitors combined, although circulation was already in the process of decline (see below).
The paper was close to the MSZP and Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) parties and its editorials often supported, though frequently also criticized, the socialist-liberal government. Its international agenda was usually supportive of the EU's and the USA's policies, though rare criticism included U.S. President George W. Bush's "democracy export" initiative.Népszabadság followed the USA in calling certain countries rogue states or part of the axis of evil and is somewhat critical of Arab countries, both on political and human rights grounds.
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