Szabad Pécs

Szabad Pécs is an independent news site in Pécs, Hungary. It focuses mainly on local and regional issues but often enters the national news cycle.It was founded in 2017 by ex-journalists of the daily Dunántúli Napló after it was purchased by Mediaworks, a media company of Lőrinc Mészáros, a long-time friend of PM Viktor Orbán.Its first stories were published on Facebook in March 2017 (the media outlet now has more than 20,000 followers), a few weeks before its launch. The media organisation raised money from crowdfunding, grants, and advertising from a local hotel to launch the media outlet.The starting lineup comprised three journalists, but another journalist soon joined them. Szabad Pécs remains a small newsroom with only one full-time and three freelance journalists.Its goal is clear: "The best thing we can do for the country is to tell about the abuse of those in power in matters close to ordinary people," the managing editor Attila Babos said.Even with such a small team, the organisation stopped publishing at the end of 2019 for financial reasons. However, the team received so many economic donations the following week that the newsroom restarted publishing."They ­[the readers] understood that a free and independent press is essential and necessary, especially in rural areas. And that, in the current circumstances, some readers have to help. Of course, it is a necessity, but it is also the best possible way for the press to function," they wrote.