Respekt
Encyclopedia
Respekt is a weekly newsmagazine
in the Czech Republic
, reporting on domestic and foreign political
and economic
issues, as well as on science
and culture
.
Editors describe Respekt as "a liberal
paper which stands up for freedom of thought
and the need of continuous questioning of its outcomes". The weekly concentrates on investigative journalism
(often using information gleaned from police sources) and in-depth articles, and has been expanding to cover ecological activism and alternative culture movements in recent years.
It is published by R-Presse, the majority of whose shares are owned by Czech Minister of foreign affairs Karel Schwarzenberg
, the remainder being held by a staff consortium.
In 2005 Respekt published details about business connection between Prime Minister Stanislav Gross
' wife and a brothel owner, starting a scandal leading to downfall of Gross several months later; in 2008 it published an article alleging that Milan Kundera
, when a student, denounced to the police a Czech spy for the West.
in 1989 by a group of samizdat
journalists as one of the very first independent magazines. Initially it was issued under the title Informační servis (Information service), changing to its present name in March 1990.
Several people involved with Respekt became influential in top level politics of Czechoslovakia
and the Czech Republic; among them the first editor-in-chief Jan Ruml who served as the Minister of Interior between 1992 and 1997, Martin Fendrych (official at the Ministry of Interior) and Vladimír Mlynář (several ministerial position).
The circulation of the weekly peaked at over 100,000 in the middle of the 1990s. At this time the (loss generating) weekly was bought by Karel Schwarzenberg
. The circulation has been dropping steadily over the time causing Respekt's losses to increase to 7 million Czk
in 2003. In 2006 Zdeněk Bakala obtained majority in Respekt and planned to eliminate the loss by making the journal more mainstream. The proposed changes led to fear among both readers and the editors that the unique flavour of the weekly will be destroyed; in September 2006 all editors threatened to leave. Within a week the owners submitted to the pressure, recalled the manager responsible to implement the changes and brought in a new editor-in-chief, Martin M. Šimečka, former editor-in-chief of the Slovak daily SME
. Modification of the visual style and the format was delayed until September 2007.
The circulation in 2006 was around 25,000 and the weekly was read by approximately 80,000 people each week. In 2007 the circulation was around 16-17,000. According to a February 2008 survey, it is read by 94,000 people and remains one of the most cited journals and newspapers in the Czech Republic.
The most visible case was the Czech government's 2001 attempt to sue Respekt for libel. Miloš Zeman
, the instigator of the case, saw it as a way to "put the journal to its end" . The case fizzled away only embarrassing the government.
(24 or 32 pages) and black & white
print it resembled more a daily newspaper than a magazine (most of the magazines in the Czech Republic are smaller and printed on glossy paper with heavy use of color and photos).
Front cover drawings by illustrator Pavel Reisenauer very soon became a symbol of the weekly. After several years the front page drawings switched from black and white to color. Reisenauer also contributed with drawings on the back cover and for the articles. All photos were black and white, their number was intentionally kept down. Advertisements were added at the end of 1991 in limited form, compared to other Czech journals.
The changes planned by the new owner in 2006 (glossy paper, use of color, coverage of day-to-day events or consumer advice) were cancelled at the time (see history above). In September 2007 the format has been changed, color replaced the black & white photos and the advertisement section was expanded.
form. An attempt to establish a commercial news-bulletin sent by email failed. In 2006 Respekt was among the first Czech newspapers to provide blogging space for the public on their website.
Newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, reporting on domestic and foreign political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and economic
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
issues, as well as on science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
.
Editors describe Respekt as "a liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
paper which stands up for freedom of thought
Freedom of thought
Freedom of thought is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints....
and the need of continuous questioning of its outcomes". The weekly concentrates on investigative journalism
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
(often using information gleaned from police sources) and in-depth articles, and has been expanding to cover ecological activism and alternative culture movements in recent years.
It is published by R-Presse, the majority of whose shares are owned by Czech Minister of foreign affairs Karel Schwarzenberg
Karel Schwarzenberg
Karel Schwarzenberg or Karel, Prince of Schwarzenberg , 7...
, the remainder being held by a staff consortium.
In 2005 Respekt published details about business connection between Prime Minister Stanislav Gross
Stanislav Gross
Stanislav Gross is a Czech lawyer and former politician, member of the Czech Social Democratic Party . He served as minister of the interior and as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic .-Early political career:...
' wife and a brothel owner, starting a scandal leading to downfall of Gross several months later; in 2008 it published an article alleging that Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera , born 1 April 1929, is a writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He is best known as the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and The Joke. Kundera has written in...
, when a student, denounced to the police a Czech spy for the West.
History
Respekt was founded very soon after the fall of Communist party from powerVelvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
in 1989 by a group of samizdat
Samizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...
journalists as one of the very first independent magazines. Initially it was issued under the title Informační servis (Information service), changing to its present name in March 1990.
Several people involved with Respekt became influential in top level politics of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and the Czech Republic; among them the first editor-in-chief Jan Ruml who served as the Minister of Interior between 1992 and 1997, Martin Fendrych (official at the Ministry of Interior) and Vladimír Mlynář (several ministerial position).
The circulation of the weekly peaked at over 100,000 in the middle of the 1990s. At this time the (loss generating) weekly was bought by Karel Schwarzenberg
Karel Schwarzenberg
Karel Schwarzenberg or Karel, Prince of Schwarzenberg , 7...
. The circulation has been dropping steadily over the time causing Respekt's losses to increase to 7 million Czk
Czech koruna
The Czech koruna or Czech crown has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 8 February 1993 when, together with its Slovak counterpart, it replaced the Czechoslovak koruna at par....
in 2003. In 2006 Zdeněk Bakala obtained majority in Respekt and planned to eliminate the loss by making the journal more mainstream. The proposed changes led to fear among both readers and the editors that the unique flavour of the weekly will be destroyed; in September 2006 all editors threatened to leave. Within a week the owners submitted to the pressure, recalled the manager responsible to implement the changes and brought in a new editor-in-chief, Martin M. Šimečka, former editor-in-chief of the Slovak daily SME
SME (newspaper)
SME or Denník SME is the most widely read and very influential mainstream broadsheet in Slovakia.Its target group is very wide, but officially it focuses on readers in bigger cities and agglomerations. Its circulation in December 2006 was 76 590. It appears 6 times a week. It is issued by Petit...
. Modification of the visual style and the format was delayed until September 2007.
The circulation in 2006 was around 25,000 and the weekly was read by approximately 80,000 people each week. In 2007 the circulation was around 16-17,000. According to a February 2008 survey, it is read by 94,000 people and remains one of the most cited journals and newspapers in the Czech Republic.
Legal actions
Since Respekt regularly reports on its investigations into bribery scandals, criminal activity or government mishandling, legal action is periodically taken against Respekt, often by top level politicians. Most of these cases that have gone to court have been won by the weekly.The most visible case was the Czech government's 2001 attempt to sue Respekt for libel. Miloš Zeman
Miloš Zeman
Miloš Zeman is a well-known Czech politician. He was a member and leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party, former speaker of the chamber of deputies from 1996 until 1998, and the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 until 2002. He was a frequent rival of Václav Klaus...
, the instigator of the case, saw it as a way to "put the journal to its end" . The case fizzled away only embarrassing the government.
Editors in chief
- Jan Ruml (1990)
- Ivan Lamper (1990–1994)
- Vladimír Mlynář (1994–1997)
- Martin Fendrych (1998)
- Petr Holub (1998–2002)
- Tomáš Němeček (2003–2005)
- Marek Švehla (2005–2006)
- Martin Milan Šimečka (2006–2009)
- Erik Tabery (2009–present)
Visual style
Respekt used its own distinguished visual style that stayed almost unchanged since 1990. With A3 formatPaper size
Many paper size standards conventions have existed at different times and in different countries. Today there is one widespread international ISO standard and a localised standard used in North America . The paper sizes affect writing paper, stationery, cards, and some printed documents...
(24 or 32 pages) and black & white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
print it resembled more a daily newspaper than a magazine (most of the magazines in the Czech Republic are smaller and printed on glossy paper with heavy use of color and photos).
Front cover drawings by illustrator Pavel Reisenauer very soon became a symbol of the weekly. After several years the front page drawings switched from black and white to color. Reisenauer also contributed with drawings on the back cover and for the articles. All photos were black and white, their number was intentionally kept down. Advertisements were added at the end of 1991 in limited form, compared to other Czech journals.
The changes planned by the new owner in 2006 (glossy paper, use of color, coverage of day-to-day events or consumer advice) were cancelled at the time (see history above). In September 2007 the format has been changed, color replaced the black & white photos and the advertisement section was expanded.
Web presence
During the early 2000s all old issues of Respekt have been converted into electronic form and made available online for subscribers in PDFPortable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
form. An attempt to establish a commercial news-bulletin sent by email failed. In 2006 Respekt was among the first Czech newspapers to provide blogging space for the public on their website.
External links
- respekt.cz / respekt.eu – Respekt online: official website
- Respekt in English, some articles in English
- History of Respekt: overview 1, overview 2 (in Czech)