Junior Pulitzers awarded in Makó - Postcard from Szeged

Two years ago, as a means of highlighting Pulitzer’s legacy and Hungarian roots, the city of Makó initiated an annual competition for Hungarian student journalists, in conjunction with a professional journalism conference, that culminates in what it calls “Pulitzer Memorial Day.”  This year’s event—co-sponsored by the National Federation of Hungarian Journalists and the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture—was held on October 29 in the Great Hall of the Korona Hotel in Makó under the rubric: “The highest mission of the press is to render public service.”“Pulitzer himself would have been delighted,” said András Csillag, an American Studies professor and Pulitzer scholar at the University of Szeged who has written extensively about Pulitzer’s origins in Makó. “The quality of the conference was stellar this year, as were many of the entries in the student competition. It bodes well, I think, for the future of journalism in Hungary.” The day started with a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at a statue of Pulitzer in Makó’s town center, where the crowd was welcomed and Pulitzer praised by László Molnár, a local educator and journalist whom Csillag regards as "the mastermind of the Makó Junior Pulitzer awards." Shortly thereafter, the conference was brought to order at the Korona Hotel by Péter Búzás, mayor of Makó and socialist MP, who declared that Makó “is proud of its famous native son and happy to host this event in his honor.” The audience was also greeted by Gergely Arató, State Secretary of Education and Culture in Budapest, representing the minister.
What did the conferees talk about? “There were presentations,” said Csillag, “by some of the stalwarts of Hungarian journalism, including György Baló, senior political programs editor of Hungarian State Television (MTV).”  He and others discussed such topics as public service opportunities in the Hungarian media, the rigors of working as a war correspondent, and behind-the-scenes facets of broadcasting from the Beijing Summer Olympics. “The speakers were excellent,” said Csillag. “Rather than story-telling, like last year, they offered the audience real insight into the nuts and bolts of professional journalism.”

And the award goes to...

“But the conference was crowned,” he added, “by the awards ceremony” for the young winners of the national journalism competition. The 200-plus entries, “from all across Hungary,” were judged by a Pulitzer Memorial Committee whose members included Csillag and András Szetey, editor-in-chief of the Szeged daily Délmagyarország. The chair, György Baló of MTV, told the audience that “the Hungarian media are deeply in need of talented young journalists, and this competition is meant to be an inspiration” in that regard.
The winner of the prize for high school students was Rita Hrabovszki, of Békéscsaba, with her report on life in a refugee camp there. The winner at the university level was Zsófia Nagy, of Nyíregyháza, with an essay “on binge partying by college students.” Each of these scribes received a miniature statue of Joseph Pulitzer and half a million forints—“Not pocket change,” quipped Csillag. A third young writer, István Matey, also of Nyíregyháza, was given a special award for recollections of his childhood as an ethnic Hungarian in Sub-Carpathia, Ukraine.




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