“As members of the KecsUP Hírek team, we believe in democracy and freedom of expression, and in our responsibility to inform the public about the most important events and decisions affecting the city of Kecskemét. We believe in our power to build community and to provide real value to our readers and followers through our content. KecsUP is currently the local news outlet that operates without using a single forint of public money, and whose independent, modern and distinctive content presents life in the region,” we wrote earlier, when we reported on the major changes expected in the life of KecsUP Hírek. We continue our work with the same conviction now that KecsUP is moving to a subscription model. Before presenting the details to our readers, let us take a brief look at KecsUP’s journey.
KecsUP’s seven difficult years
Seven years ago, a dream became a goal: Kecskemét should finally have an independent, honest voice in public life, because accurate and understandable information about local affairs is not a luxury but a basic need. The idea came from Róbert Alter, who was first joined by Dr Norbert Falusi. Over the years, an editorial community took shape whose determination to pursue this mission has only grown stronger despite every obstacle.
In recent weeks, our colleagues selected several topics from among the many important issues they have covered — subjects that required more work than average and that summarise their approach and insights. István Hraskó examined the NJEA case worth HUF 127.5 billion. Balázs Latyák looked beyond Kecskemét’s borders to present the critical situation of drinking water in Nagykőrös. We learned Imre Barna’s thoughts on the undeniable power of publicity, while Norbert Falusi highlighted our outstanding role in democratising the public agenda. Szilárd Balla shed light on the importance of truthful information through the relationship between facts, emotions and propaganda. Olga Alter also reported on how difficult it is to maintain the financial foundations of a newsroom, while Róbert Alter, the managing director of the paper, shared his view of KecsUP’s life.
Through these behind-the-scenes articles, we sought to bring the KecsUP community closer to the “invisible” work behind the content and to the value-creating nature of journalism as a profession.
A joint experiment with the KecsUP community
Over the years, it has become increasingly clear that there is a real demand in and around Kecskemét for objective and thorough coverage of issues that affect our lives. Evidence includes our steadily growing readership, the many interactions, comments and letters from readers, and, last but not least, the social impact created by our content.
But we wanted to know even more. For months, we surveyed our readers to learn what truly interests them, what deserves our closer attention and how we can better serve an audience that values real news. This was part of a joint experiment in which we sought to shape the details of the subscription system based on our experience and the feedback we received.
Premium content and public service
Can you imagine how much time, work and money lie behind Norbert Falusi’s and István Hraskó’s videos about water retention and water monitoring? Several trips, fieldwork, background conversations, interviews, research to find information, hundreds of photographs and cutaway shots, from which the best material is selected over many hours. Then comes the script, the careful editing of the material by a professional editor, and several rounds of review.
Next comes writing and recording the narration, inserting it into the film and adding subtitles. Only after all this can the result of several weeks of work — the finished film — be published.
Our goal is to continue investigating important topics such as the NJEA case, which require meticulous follow-up, repeated checks, research and data collection. We can only see clearly when someone delves into an issue, untangles the threads and makes it accessible to readers.
In our Peremhelyzetek section, KecsUP also seeks to present the lives and problems of people pushed to the margins, along with possible solutions. Our journalists regularly visit in person people who have no “voice” with which to communicate that they exist at all. Through us, readers can learn about often urgent problems and tragic or dramatic human stories.
Staff members of the national press are increasingly interested in these topics as well. They know that important events, stories and situations exist in rural areas just as they do in the capital, but they can access real information and amplify it nationally only through us.
It is important to emphasise that KecsUP Hírek will continue to report the news. We are not depriving anyone of the right to free access to information. Accordingly, a significant part of our articles will remain available to the wider public, and some of our subscription articles will also remain public for everyone.
Why now?
The straightforward answer is that government influence under the Orbán administration has completely shut us, as an independent local medium, out of the advertising market. But even if an advertising market existed, the premium-quality journalism we represent simply could not be produced from advertising revenue alone.
The world of grants is just as uncertain as a dog’s dinner: we cannot know whether a call will be issued that fits our aims, and it is always a question whether evaluators will consider an application developed through so much work worthy of support. In short, subscriptions are what make KecsUP’s operation sustainable. Our content has always been free from all outside influence; we now want to establish our business independence as well.
So what does a subscriber receive?
Premium content — articles, videos and podcasts — created with substantial journalistic added value and investment will be available to subscribers. They will also be able to read it with fewer pop-up advertisements.
Annual subscribers will be able to buy tickets to one of our KecsUP Evening events, which have deservedly become popular, at a 50 percent discount. They will have access to our exclusive weekly newsletter, written by the editor on duty that week in their own style and with their personal perspective woven into the most important news, events and developments of the week.
A subscription can also be started with a monthly package, so anyone can try out the benefits of membership. The annual subscription will, however, be available on much more favourable terms than the package renewed every month.
We are also working on a new community support system that will allow our readers to provide access to KecsUP content for others as well. The Aspektus+ programme is supporting the implementation of this development, so the value of contributions received for it will be doubled.
One more piece of good news!
Quality content deserves a special presentation. After a long process of planning and rethinking, made possible by the support of our readers, our long-awaited new, user-friendly website has finally launched. We sincerely hope that whatever news our audience reads, they can do so with pleasure on this easy-to-use, transparent and clean platform.
We sincerely believe that the freedom of the people cannot exist without a free press. True freedom cannot exist without truthful words either, and there will always be a need for people brave enough to ask questions, investigate carefully and present the facts to readers, even when the truth often hurts.
Anyone who agrees with all this and would like to join the KecsUP community on this journey can subscribe. We will remain credible, free and independent!
