Creative competition in Budapest during the war

An attempt to produce value in public media

Creative competition in Budapest during the war

In today's Hungary, reality shows constitute most of the media products. Although they offer entertainment to the people and guaranteed income to the sponsors, they do not offer much real value. On the other hand, the so-called "valuable" programs in the media are often incomprehensible and sometimes the average person has to struggle to understand them. How different was this 60 years ago! According to the 28 October 1942 issue of Budai Krónika, this problem seems to gain actuality time after time. In 1942, in the middle of World War II, the Society of Authors, Filmmakers, Lyricists and Novelists - which, I think, does not exist anymore - decided to do something against degradation. They announced a competition for authors. As the article says, the objective was to create a short poem, no longer than 12-14 typed lines, or short story, to show that Hungarian culture and creativity still lives, despite of the huge amount of foreign (pulp) publicity on the market. Although nobody won the first prize (all the poems and stories were either longer than 14 lines, or not worthy of a first prize), they handed out the second and third prizes to stimulate creativity, and also promised to repeat the event. However short-lived this initiative was, it was trying to involve the public in the creation of something with intellectual value. Such an action would be most welcome in today's Hungary, where commercially driven shows have hijacked public media. N. Life in Budapest Traditional gypsy music in Budapest Learning languages in Hungary Popular cinema in Hungary Hungarians learning Spanish Hungarian wages Hungarian salaries Hungarian attitudes towards Gypsies Austria from Hungary Gypsy stereotypes in Hungary Getting a job in Hungary Foreign language bookstores in Budapest Bird flu strain in Hungary Foreign languages in Hungary Winter sports in Budapest Traditional Gypsy music in Budapest Beggars in Budapest Gypsies in Hungarian media