Budapest, 1th March 2024
On its 30th birthday, Blikk invites its readers on a special time travel on all its platforms. Blikk.hu presents the striking public events and colorful moments of the past three decades in a virtual press photo exhibition, the Blikk Heart video series will be launched soon, the birthday issue of Blikk daily comes with a retrospective supplement, and an exclusive bookazine was also created, in which we can see the most memorable covers, and read short essays by well-known people reflecting on these past thirty years and Blikk’s role in the Hungarian press.
The first issue of Blikk daily was published in Hungary on March 1, 1994 by Ringier publishing house. It descended straight from the sky, as at 7 p.m. a military helicopter dropped a pallet of publications into the crowd over the Városliget Ice Rink in Budapest. This is how Blikk – which has been the market leader among national dailies for twenty-two years now and also the most visited Hungarian website for two years – became a part of the Hungarian newspaper market and readers’ everyday life.
The editorial team was well prepared for the celebration on all of Blikk’s platforms: the virtual exhibition showcasing 30 outstanding press photos of the past 30 years is a footprint of the turn of the millennium and the years that have passed since then. The visitors get an experience almost as if they were visiting an exhibition created in physical reality, since they can move freely in the 3D exhibition space and view the close-ups of the images. The selection includes photos on political, public life, sports and tabloid themes, among the authors we can see some multiple Press Photo Award winners, like Viktor Veres and Péter Zsolnai.
The print issue appearing on March 1, the day of the anniversary, has an extra eight-page supplement, in which readers can read the most important news and reports of the past three decades. In addition, the editors have put together a 132-page jubilee publication that presents the immense work of the journalists and photojournalists over the past 30 years. The limited-edition bookazine, rich in memorable stories and covers, will primarily be available to the publisher’s partners and a few lucky readers, but it will also be available online to subscribers.
However, a birthday is not only about the person being celebrated, but also about those with whom their paths once crossed. That is why the editorial staff thought it is the celebrities’ turn to write their personal stories and opinion. In the coming weeks, in the column titled 30 years, 30 writings, we can read essays by Tamás Frei, András Bárdos, János Gálvölgyi, Antónia Erős, Ági Pataki, Krisztián Nyáry and many more.
Video series Blikk Szív – a little is enough for a miracle will be launched in March. The aim of the series is to introduce some aid organizations and small communities, hoping that we can provided visibility to them and their precious work.
Balázs Kolossváry, the editor-in-chief of Blikk, said: “For thirty years at Blikk, we have set ourselves the goal of being unwavering guardians of the purity of public life in addition to entertainment and colorful content, and if it’s needed, to speak out ruthlessly in defense of ordinary people, against corruption, mumbling, dishonesty, injustice, and the proliferation of ‚minute men‘. We wanted to be the voice of the street – in the noblest sense of the term. On birthdays, we not only take stock, but also look ahead and carry on the legacy of the founders. We fight with our own means for a peaceful, fair, tolerant, livable world, where deviance does not defeat normality, where the spoken and written word has value, power, and credibility, where human intelligence will always be more important than artificial intelligence. We continue with passion, faith, and firm will so that our readers can always count on us.”
“We are proud that Blikk is one of the storm-proof bastions of independent, free and diverse information in Hungary to this day. Its fast, easy-to-understand news and colorful content open a window to the world for millions. Helping the reader in their everyday decisions – this is the journalistic and publishing mission that we want to continue to represent every day”, said Tibor Kovács, managing director of Ringier Hungary.