"Living in Hungary in the post-Cold War years, we are fortunate to witness some of the most remarkable political and economic changes in a century that has been no stranger to turbulence. It is fashionable in some circles in the West to say the collapse of communism has brought an end to history. We at The Budapest Sun believe it is the beginning."

And so it was, for The Budapest Sun as well. Sun founder Jim Michaels' words from page 1, of Volume 1, Issue 1, summed up an optimism that was felt throughout the country and reflected in the pages of Hungary's newest English-language newspaper.

The date was March 4, 1993.

A 16 page black and white broadsheet at the time, the first issue of the Sun had many of the features it still boasts today.

News

Front page stories about investigations into the dealings of a US adoption agency, the decline of the aluminum industry, and even a summit between Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin.

Business

Budapest Stock Exchange information (see Then and Now) and a business calendar.

Arts and entertainment listings:

Competently handled by the section named Night and Day, with venues, galleries and even churches carefully catalogued.

Far from a rookie crew, the original staff of the Sun was mostly made up of professionals from the recently collapsed Budapest Post. With such experience to draw from the new paper developed rapidly with color appearing by Issue 11, May 13, 1993, and the still popular Style section being born between the sheets of Issue 18, July 1, 1993.

Since those early days there have been hundreds of changes, some big some small, but the commitment to providing a complete package of pertinent news and entertainment remains the same.

The future holds even more improvements, as current Managing Director István Szammer reveals,

"After acquiring The Budapest Sun in 1996 our most important objective was to turn a potentially excellent newspaper into a serious business. A main task was to assess the potential advertising market of the publication. Expertise and experience from our other Northcliffe newspapers was used here.

We soon realized that the expatriate market in Hungary is not growing but the number of locals speaking English is. Now our editorial policy is to develop a newspaper that appeals to many different types of reader. Concurrently, our marketing strategy has been to make our publication available in many more targeted outlets.
 

Our new web site is very much part of this plan. The first thing businessmen and visitors should see when seeking information about Budapest is

It gives a massive boost to our potential readership and could offer significant advertising opportunities for both local and foreign businesses. It is an integral part of our future development."
 

Associated Newspapers

Chairman
Jonathan Harmsworth
 

Northcliffe Newspapers

Executive responsible for Hungary
Michael Pelosi
 

Associated Newspapers Hungary

Chief Executive
István Szammer
 
The major shareholder of The Budapest Sun is Associated Newspapers of Great Britain. This company has business and publishing interests all over the world with its flagship publication being the Daily Mail in England.

The company is owned by the Harmsworth family and its driving force, until his recent death, was Lord Rothermere. His son, Jonathan, will now take the company into the 21st century.

Northcliffe Newspapers is the regional wing of Associated Newspapers and is responsible for the management of the Hungarian business. As well as The Budapest Sun, the company owns Hungary's most successful county newspaper, Kisalföld, and has other media interests in the Gyor-Moson-Sopron area. The local executive responsible for the operation in this country is István Szammer.

From March 21, 2007, The Budapest Sun has been using photos from MTI, the Hungarian state news agency.