What makes Nyugat Media and Nyugat.hu unique?

We also consider the presentation of our work important because Hungary operates in a centralised way in many respects. Thus, despite its important work it is difficult for a media with a national interest and not based in Budapest to be visible.

The Nyugat Media and World Wide Web Association publishes the news portals www.nyugat.hu and www.enyugat.hu and the umbrella site www.szabadhirek.hu that brings together the independent regional news sites outside Budapest.

25 éves a Nyugat.hu. Ne feledd, ide kattintva támogathatod következő 25 évünket!
Támogatom

We also consider the presentation of our work important because Hungary operates in a centralised way in many respects. Thus, despite its important work it is difficult for a media with a national interest and not based in Budapest to be visible.

Nyugat.hu - unique in the country

A Nyugat.hu regional news portal has been in operation since 1999. It was one of the first online media outlets, which has become a well-known brand over the years. Our articles also serve as a basis for the national media.

Nyugat.hu is exceptional because:

  • It is the largest independent media outside Budapest,
  • It is the oldest Hungarian news portal,
  • According to the analysis of the Mérték Media Analysis Workshop, Nyugat.hu is one of the Hungarian media success stories - Those who have not compromised,
  • Vas county is the only region in Hungary where the number one news source - ahead of national news portals and the online version of the county daily - is an independent news portal, Nyugat.hu. This is confirmed by this research which was carried out by ZRI Závecz Research in 2021 december.
  • Nyugat.hu is also important because readers in Hungary consider local media much more credible than national media.
  • Our work is described in detail by the well-known weekly Magyar Narancs with the title „Regional media is not dead”.
  • Nyugat.hu audience statistics

    Daily unique visitors: 60 000-80 000

    Monthly unique visitors: 750 000

    Monthly page downloads: 5 million

    Massive presence in the social media

    Number of Facebook followers: 100 177

    Number of Instagram followers: 5 040

    Number of YouTube followers: 1 725

    Professional counselling - Network building

    Nyugat has always had the intention to share our experiences of 22 years to other news sites.

    Enyugat.hu

    Despite the difficulties the Hungarian independent media have to face, in 2020 with the help of our professional counselling we managed to start a new „gap filler” regional news site Enyugat.hu. Over the past months it has become a credible and well-known media outlet in the county Győr-Moson-Sopron.

    Audience statistics of Enyugat.hu

    Users’ data in 2022:

    Unique daily visitors: 4000

    Facebook followers: 4708

    Independent media outside Budapest join forces - Szabadhirek.hu

    As an exemplary project we have created and operate an umbrella site Szabadhirek.hu that brings together and supports independent regional news portals. Here everyone can find authentic news from rural Hungary. At the moment it has 12 members.

    Our aim is to gather credible, objective news about Hungary and make it available to everyone. In doing so, we give more weight to events outside Budapest. We consider it important to unite the remaining small regional media sites and to provide them with professional and mental support.

    You can also read about our project in English in the N-OST newsletter.

    Our work and objectives

    Outstanding professional work - investigative journalism

    Besides the credible daily news, we have published numerous investigative reports on regional issues that aroused national interests.

    In both 2019 and 2021, Nyugat.hu won the investigative competition of the Transparency International Hungary Foundation, and we have previously received a quality journalism award for our work.

  • Mi épül ott a síkon távolban?
  • A sárvári földek Simicskától Mészáros Lőrinchez való vándorlásának története
  • Let's Make Democracy Work Together - Promoting Citizen Empowerment

    We have developed an encrypted messaging system ("I report") through which citizens can anonymously contact our association and the editorial office to share information with us. We use the power of the media to help our readers solve problems, investigate cases and navigate the maze of companies and bureaucratic institutions that block information.

    Video and podcast

    As a new media form we have launched podcast and video sections, both formats require significant professional and technical resources.

    Podcast channel - public analysis series, debates

    The aim of the weekly, fixed-time discussions is to present and analyse social, cultural and public events on a regular weekly basis, in a way that is understandable for ordinary citizens. We also broadcast live debates of the candidates during the primaries.

    Empowering civil voice - Man of the Street video series

    Nyugat regularly publishes videos where civilians are interviewed on various important social, economic and cultural topics. We also aim to reach out to people who are marginalised - on ethnic, age, geographical or other grounds. These videos also serve a kind of advisory function. Videos with comments provide an opportunity for dialogue between these people and groups.

    Internship programme

    In Hungary, especially outside Budapest, there is a great need for professional journalism training and employment for young people. Nyugat has already run such an internship programme and we have the appropriate professional background. We are looking for sponsors.

    Innovative IT background

    Our association has put a lot of energy into creating the IT background. We have been collaborating with an information technology team for a long time.

  • They built the IT background of Nyugat.hu,
  • They created a safe and unique content managing system (CMS) that can be used and connected to other newsrooms.
  • They created a page dedicated to donations.
  • They created an encrypted message sending system for anonymous online communication with our readers.
  • However, the technical security of our association's websites are under constant attacks. We are also looking for sponsors to purchase appropriate technical equipment (photo/video, server, laptop, etc.) and to hire IT specialists.

    References and partners

    We have gained a great deal of experience over 22 years of operation and successfully finished numerous projects. We have cooperated a broad range of partners including:

  • U.S. Embassy in Hungary
  • Centre for Independent Journalism
  • Open Society Foundation
  • The Hungarian Helsinki Committee
  • Hungarian Civil Liberties Union
  • Transparency International Hungary
  • Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
  • Thomson Foundation
  • N-OST
  • Our editor-in-chief, Gyöngyi Roznár is a member of the board of Editor-in-Chief's Forum Hungary.

    You can find our video made for our donors with English subtitles here:

    Mindenről az igazat. Függetlenül. Támogasd a Nyugat.hu munkáját!

    And here you can read our interview in English on the government takeover of Hungarian regional media.

    The party-owned regional papers have become party-owned regional papers.

    Kind regards,

    Nyugat.hu staff