Respekt
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Respekt (in English The respect) is a weekly newsmagazine in the Czech Republic, reporting about domestic and foreign politics, economy, science and culture.
Editors describe Respekt as liberal paper which stands up for the freedom of thought and the need of continuous questioning its outcomes. The weekly concentrates on investigative journalism and in-depth articles. In recent years it moved also toward ecological activism and coverage of cultural subgroups.
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[edit] History
Respekt was founded very soon after fall of communist party from power in 1989 by a group of samizdat journalists as one of the very first independent magazines. Initially it was issued under the title Information service of Civic Forum (Informační servis Občanského Fóra), since March 1990 it bears its present name.
Several people around the weekly 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 (October 1992 - 1997).
Circulation of the weekly peaked around the middle of 1990s with over 100,000. In 1996 Respekt was bought by Karel Schwarzenberg. Disputes about heading of the journal among editors resulted in several leaves. Meanwhile circulation was dropping and the loss generated by Respekt increasing (7 million of Czk in 2003). In 2006 Zdeněk Bakala bought Respekt with a plan to eliminate the loss by making the journal more mainstream.
The circulation in 2006 is around 25,000, read by approximately 80,000 people each week. Respekt stays among the most cited journals and newspapers in the Czech Republic.
[edit] Legal actions
Coming up with investigative reports about bribery scandals, criminal activity or government mishandling Respekt gets almost periodically charged at the court, often by top level politicians. Most cases are won by the weekly.
The most visible was 2001 attempt to sue Respekt for libel by the Czech government led by Miloš Zeman. Zeman saw it as a way to "put the journal to its end" [1]. The case fizzled away only embarrassing the government.
[edit] 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-present)
[edit] Visual style
Respekt has its own distinguished visual style that had changed only little during since it was established in 1990. With A3 format (currently 24 pages) and black & white print it resembles more a daily newspaper than magazine (most of magazines in the Czech Republic are printed on glossy paper with heavy use of color).
Front cover drawings by illustrator Pavel Reisenauer very soon became symbol of the weekly. After several years the front page drawings switched from black and white to color. Reisenauer also contributes with drawings on back side and for the articles.
All photos are black and white and their number is kept relatively low. Advertisements appeared the end of 1991 in very limited form; they still take only small part of the weekly.
With the new owner in 2006 plans to increase circulation by making Respekt more mainstream emerged. Glossy paper, use of color, coverage of day-to-day events or consumer advices are mentioned as possible changes. The "new face" is to be implemented in January 2007.
[edit] Web presence
During early 2000s all old issues of Respekt had been converted into electronic form an made available online for a fee. Attempt to establish commercial news-bulletin sent by email failed.
[edit] Notable covers
 Al-Quaeda: What they do and who they are |
 United colors of Pyongyang |
 Putin mastered the golden lamb |
 Who's afraid of overpopulation? |
 American choice |
 A Trip to Usama's homeland |
 For those who hate Bush |
 Copying makes music strong |
[edit] 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)
