168 Óra

{{Short description|Weekly Hungarian language political news magazine (1989–2022)}}

{{Infobox magazine

| logo = 168 Óra logo.png

| image_file =

| image_size =

| image_caption =

| editor = Ákos Mester

| editor_title = Editor-in-chief

| frequency = Weekly

| circulation = 4,105 (2022)

| category = News magazine

| company = Brit Media Group

| publisher = Telegráf Kiadó Kft

| founded = {{start date and age|1989}}

| firstdate =

| finaldate = August 2022

| country = Hungary

| based = Budapest

| language = Hungarian

| website = [https://168.hu/ 168 Óra]

| issn = 0864-8581}}

168 Óra (Hungarian: 168 Hours) was a weekly political news magazine published in Budapest, Hungary. It was in circulation between 1989 and August 2022.{{cite news|title=Megszűnik a 168 óra hetilap

|url=https://hvg.hu/itthon/20220826_Felfuggesztik_a_168_ora_hetilap_kiadasat|access-date=1 October 2022|work=HVG.hu|date=26 August 2022}} The website is still updated as of October 2022.

History and profile

168 Óra was started in 1989 by the radio broadcaster with the same name, which is part of Hungary's state broadcasting institution Magyar Rádió.{{cite web|title=168 óra|work=Euro Topics|url=http://www.eurotopics.net/en/home/medienindex/media_articles/?frommedia=27568|access-date=22 December 2014|archive-date=22 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222214305/http://www.eurotopics.net/en/home/medienindex/media_articles/?frommedia=27568}} In the initial phase it was just the print version of the radio programme, but later it became a political publication. As of 2014 Ákos Mester was the editor-in-chief of the magazine which is based in Budapest. It is part of Brit Media Group.{{cite news|author=Andras Jambor|title=Fidesz set to increase its control of Hungarian media|access-date=11 February 2017

|work=Political Critique|url=http://politicalcritique.org/cee/hungary/2016/fidesz-set-to-increase-its-control-of-hungarian-media/|date=31 August 2016}} The publisher of the magazine was Telegráf Kiadó Kft.{{cite web|author=Ágnes Urbán|title=Recent changes in media ownership|url=http://mertek.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/mertek_media_owners2016.pdf|work=Mertek Media Monitor|access-date=11 February 2017|date=November 2016}}

168 Óra was published weekly on Thursdays and offered articles about politics and current affairs as well as features interviews with significant public figures.{{cite news|title=168 óra: A new Hungarian left-wing is needed

|url=http://budapestbeacon.com/politics/168-ora-a-new-hungarian-left-wing-is-needed/|access-date=22 December 2014|work=The Budapest Beacon|date=19 October 2014}} The magazine had a liberal and left liberal stance.{{cite web|title=Media Profiles|url=http://visegradplus.org/media-profile/newspapers/|work=Visegrad Plus|access-date=22 December 2014|archive-date=22 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222212605/http://visegradplus.org/media-profile/newspapers/|url-status=dead}} The magazine defined itself as a critical civic-intellectual weekly.

In 2003 168 Óra published the French President Jacques Chirac's press conference as if it was an exclusive interview for the magazine.{{cite book|editor1=Alexander J. Motyl|editor2=Amanda Schnetzer|title=Nations in Transit 2004: Democratization in East Central Europe and Eurasia|year=2004|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUpop39XnJYC&pg=PA266|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7425-3646-3|page=266|location=Lanham, MD|author1=Ronald Kovats|author2=Viktoria Villanyi|chapter=Hungary}}

The magazine folded in August 2022.

Circulation

168 Óra sold 58,000 copies in 2002 and 53,000 copies in 2003.{{cite web|author=Péter Bajomi-Lázár|title=The Business of Ethics, the Ethics of Business|work=Centrul pentru Jurnalism Independent|access-date=16 February 2015|archive-date=16 February 2015

|url=http://www2.cji.ro/userfiles/file/documente/05Business_Ethics__Hungary(1).pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216200034/http://www2.cji.ro/userfiles/file/documente/05Business_Ethics__Hungary(1).pdf}} During the fourth quarter of 2009 its circulation was 36,371 copies.{{cite web|title=Communicating Europe: Hungary Manual|work=European Stability Initiative|access-date=7 April 2015|url=http://www.esiweb.org/pdf/enlargement_debates_manual_hungary.pdf|date=December 2010}} In 2010 the magazine had a circulation of 21,000 copies. It sold 17,746 copies in 2013.{{cite web|title=Top 50 Magazines

|url=http://ifabc.org/site/assets/media/Top-50-magazines-30042014.xlsx|work=IFABC|access-date=22 March 2015|date=30 April 2014}} Its circulation dropped to 14,321 copies in 2015. The last publicly announced circulation figure in 2021 was 4,105 copies which indicated a steeply declining circulation status.{{cite web|title=Nem mérik többé a 168 Óra példányszámát – Milkovics Pál vezérigazgatót kérdeztük az okokról|access-date=29 August 2022|url=https://media1.hu/2022/03/21/nem-merik-tobbe-a-168-ora-peldanyszamat-milkovics-pal-vezerigazgatot-kerdeztuk-az-okokrol/|date=21 March 2022|publisher=Media 1|language=hu|author=Szalay Dániel}}