Why did Nyolcadik.hu start?

Part oneWho we are

We want a good residents’ community

We want to strengthen vibrant neighbourhood communities. We are convinced that the cooperation of local, self-aware citizens, combined with social sensitivity towards one another, can achieve a more orderly, cleaner and safer environment.

We do not want to tell people what a resident of Józsefváros should be like. We want people of very different backgrounds in Józsefváros to be able to talk with one another about their common concerns and to act on them.

We are diverse, but we live in one place

Józsefváros is a colourful, culturally rich district where people of very different backgrounds live side by side: students and pensioners, workers and entrepreneurs, people working in retail or hospitality, intellectuals, freelancers and digital professionals, old Józsefváros families and new arrivals.

We do not have to agree on everything, and we will not. But let us not allow ourselves to be divided. Let us get to know one another, because we walk the same streets, use the same squares, parks and public transport, and our basic interests are shared.

Part twoWhat we believe in

We have the right to live in an orderly environment

A good residents’ community, an orderly shared space, a usable park, a clean street and a safe environment are in the interest of all of us. This matters to tenants and owners alike.

And anyone who owns a property bought with a lifetime of work, paid for over many years or inherited from their family rightly wants to preserve its real value – and perhaps even increase it.

For that, it is not only the condition of the flat that matters, but also the public safety and reputation of the neighbourhood, the condition of the streets and parks, public transport, cleanliness, services, shops, schools and, in general, what it feels like to step out of the front gate in the morning.

We have the same right to this as people living in any other district of Budapest.

Order and social sensitivity

We want to create a protected, civilised and safe public space, also for those who believe that public safety and law enforcement tools alone do not solve our social problems, but are still part of the solution.

In our view, it is possible at the same time to show compassion for those in difficult situations, to help those who need it, and to expect our shared spaces to be clean, safe and usable by everyone.

We want city management that reflects real life

In recent years, those who stressed that residents of the 8th District, like residents of other districts, have the right to live in a clean, orderly and liveable environment have repeatedly found that this view was labelled politically incorrect.

As if wanting to live in an orderly environment necessarily meant a lack of social sensitivity.

A similar stigma can also fall on those who imagine city management on the basis of real-life realities and the experience of everyday coexistence, rather than along the lines of theoretical social models or social experiments.

We want to speak without fear

Public safety is not an abstract political issue, but a matter of everyday quality of life. For women, children, older people and families, it is fundamental to be able to use streets, squares, parks and public transport without fear. Harassment, threatening behaviour, aggression or the exploitation of other people’s vulnerability must not become a natural part of a big-city environment that one simply has to get used to.

We see that, for a long time, the political elite and the intellectual and public-life circles closely connected to it tended to trivialise or relativise some of these problems, or to treat them merely as questions of social policy, while for the people who live here these are very much everyday experiences.

In the debates that have been going on about these issues for decades, many people have also experienced cancel culture, online bullying, personal smear attacks, public shaming and pressure. Opinions have also appeared – not entirely independently of certain political and public figures who support decision-making – according to which the problem is not, or not primarily, the condition of our shared spaces, but those who dare to talk about it.

We see this differently. Social sensitivity cannot mean that we have to stay silent about public safety, harassment, aggression or the condition of our shared spaces. Likewise, wanting order does not mean insensitivity towards those who need help.

We want to create a local public forum where these questions can also be discussed without fear, stigma, online harassment and political labelling. Where a woman can say that she is afraid to go home in the evening; a parent can raise it if they do not feel a public space is safe with their child; and a resident can report problems they experience in their surroundings without automatically receiving a political or moral label for it.

Part threeHow we do it

We don’t want trash reality

We show reality unvarnished, but we do not want to produce „trash reality” content that turns misery, vulnerability or the fate of people in difficult situations into a spectacle, clicks and revenue.

There are online and video contents whose very appeal is that they show the worst life situations again and again, often joking about or mocking vulnerable people, and thereby serving an audience that is entertained by it. We do not want to profit from someone being in trouble, and we do not want to turn a single street, square or public space in Józsefváros into the backdrop of poverty tourism.

We show the problems, but not in order to entertain with them; rather, to talk about them and, where possible, to start moving towards solutions. We will talk about the problems and, where necessary, show them too. But for us, presenting a problem is not the end of the story, but, ideally, the beginning of the road towards a solution.

We want to understand why a situation arose, who can change it, what solutions exist, and what the local authority, the state, an institution, a civil community or even we ourselves, local residents, can do about it.

Józsefváros is made up not of problems, but of opportunities

Józsefváros is of course much more than its problems. It is one of Budapest’s oldest districts, centrally located and with excellent assets, with historic buildings, special streets and squares, exemplary apartment blocks, markets, cafés, cultural venues, institutions, communities, events, initiatives and a great many interesting people.

We see Józsefváros not as a collection of problems, but as an area full of opportunities. We want to talk about everything that is good, valuable and works; to present the people, places and communities we can be proud of, and in the process to get to know one another better.

Because a good district is built not only by the local authority or institutions, but also by those who live in it.

Our directions

Part fourOur guidelines

nyolcadik.hu is a local, non-profit community media outlet. We write about Józsefváros, the people who live here, communities, institutions, businesses and those issues that have a direct and recognisable connection with the 8th District.

The paper is made by local, self-aware citizens, unpaid, as community work. We do not operate as a business, and our aim is not to generate clicks or revenue at all costs. We do it because we consider it important that there should be a local public forum that deals with the everyday affairs of Józsefváros.

We stay local

We do not want to make yet another national news portal. A national or city-level decision does not become local news just because residents of Józsefváros also feel its effects.

We deal with it if Józsefváros is a distinct, identifiable player in or party affected by the matter: for example, if a local institution, public space, investment, transport connection, service, local authority task or significant local community is concerned.

If the word „Józsefváros” could only be written into the headline artificially, it is probably not our story.

The street is a news source too

For us, local journalism does not consist only of announcements, press conferences and politicians’ statements. What happens on a square, in front of an apartment block, at the market, at a bus stop or in a side street is just as important.

The condition of public spaces, cleanliness, public safety, transport, housing and questions of coexistence are just as much public affairs.

We don’t write only about problems

Józsefváros is more than the sum of conflicts and political disputes. We also present local cafés, markets, shops, cultural venues, communities, interesting people, stories and initiatives.

Public life is a shared concern

For us, public life is not the same as party politics. A local authority decision, the situation of a school, a change in transport or even a problem in an apartment block can be a public matter.

We try to judge political figures by the same standard, regardless of party affiliation.

News and opinion

We strive to keep factual reporting, commentary and community content clearly separate. An opinion can be firm or ironic, but we do not want to present opinion as fact.

Social media – literally

We welcome the stories, observations, photos, problems and ideas of those who live and work here. Even an issue raised by a single resident can be important if it says something about life in the district.

If we make a mistake, we correct it. If we are not sure about something, we say so.

nyolcadik.hu – local, community media. Local issues, from a local perspective.