According to Magyar Nemzet, there is nothing special about the publication of a book in itself, even if it is signed by the mayor of Budapest. Gergely Karácsony’s new volume, a Bridges instead of walls however, the background to the publication of the book is not ordinary. According to Magyar Nemzet, the publisher is one of the reliable media companies of the left, Liberty Press Kft., which also publishes the weekly Jelen.
The editor-in-chief of Jelen is Zoltán Lakner: the political analyst-turned-journalist committed himself to former Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai before 2010, who – as is well known – maintains excellent relations with Gergelly Karácsony.
Almost six million forints?
An interesting detail is that in 2022 Budapest Brand Nonprofit Zrt. “Making a feasibility study on the creation of a Budapest 150 media network” The date of entry into force of the business contract was June 1, 2022, and the completion of the contract was July 31, 2022. For the study, the municipal company responsible for the production of cultural content, among other things, paid a net HUF 5.8 million to Liberty Press.
The mayor’s book, timed for the campaign, was therefore published by the company to which a company from the municipality had previously paid almost HUF six million in public funds for a study.
By the way, the price of the volume is eight thousand forints, but it is not yet known what proportion of the revenue from sales the author, Gergely Karácsony, will receive.
They don’t answer questions
Magyar Nemzet contacted the managing director of Liberty Press, Ákos Tóth, who informed them that the mayor approached them about publishing the book at the end of 2023. He also said that the costs will of course be borne by the publisher, and Gergely Karácsony will be paid copyright, but he did not say how much this would be.
Ákos Tóth was also asked about the 2022 study, which he claimed was a serious professional work, which, at the request of the client, was about how a modern media editorial office should be built. He was unable to answer whether the company of the capital city government ultimately utilized the contents of the study.
THE Bridges instead of walls questions about the details of the publication of the book were sent to Mayor Gergely Karácsony. As soon as new information becomes available, we will update our article.
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