Telefon Hírmondó

Infobox Newspaper
name = Telefon Hírmondó


caption = A "Telefon Hírmondó" stentor reading the day's news (1901)
type = Daily newspaper
format = Telephone newspaper
foundation = 15 February, 1893
ceased publication = ran as newspaper till 1920s, then as a radio broadcaster till 1944
price = 18 florins (annual subscription)
owners = Telefonhírmondó Joint stock company
publisher =
editor =
chiefeditor =
assoceditor =
staff = ~200 (Winter, 1907)
language =
political =
circulation = 15,000 (1907)
headquarters = Budapest

Telefon Hírmondó or Telefonhírmondó (also translated into English as "Telephone Herald" [cite journal
last = Talbot
first = Frederick A.
title = A Telephone Newsletter
journal = The Living Age
date = August 8, 1983
pages = 372–376
url = http://earlyradiohistory.us/telenew4.htm
accessdate = 2007-11-20] [cite journal
title = An extract
journal = Harper's Weekly
date = September 28, 1895
pages = 929
url = http://earlyradiohistory.us/telenew4.htm
accessdate = 2007-11-20] ) was a telephone newspaper in Budapest. It was the longest-running telephone newspaper, and has been described by Peter Lunenfeld as "the most sustained point-to-point telephonic distribution system". [Citation
last = Lunenfeld
first = Peter
author-link = Peter Lunenfeld
date = July 1, 1997
title = In search of the telephone opera: from communications to art. (critiquing the world wide web as an art form)
periodical = Afterimage
url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-20198546.html
accessdate = 2007-11-20] It has also been described as an early radio, and indeed it was radio that led to its demise. [Irving Fang, "A history of mass communication", Focal Press, 1997, p.87-88]

Establishment

The "Telefon Hírmondó" was founded by Tivadar Puskás (also translated as Theodore Buschgasch), an engineer and inventor, who had earlier worked with Thomas Edison. [cite journal
title = The Telephone Newspaper
journal = The Electrical Engineer, London
date = September 6, 1895
pages = 257
url = http://earlyradiohistory.us/1895th.htm
accessdate = 2007-11-20] Puskás had registered the patent of technology behind the newspaper in 1892, in the Patent Office of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with the title "A new method of organizing and fitting a telephone newspaper".cite web
url = http://people.clarkson.edu/~ekatz/scientists/puskas.html
author = Evgeny Katz
title = Tivadar Puskás
accessdate = 2007-11-20] The "Telefon Hírmondó" service started on 15 February 1893, with around 60 subscribers. The editorial office was located near Astoria, at 6 Magyar Street. The first message was from Puskás:

"Telefon Hírmondó" had been started without any formal permission from the government authorities. However, after two weeks of operation, Puskás applied for the permission to run his "newspaper", because he wanted exclusive rights for running a telephone newspaper for five years. The contemporary press laws did not apply to a telephone newspaper, and the government authorities were wary of the "Telefon Hírmondó" developing into an "important tool of power", as it could quickly spread the strategic, political, and social information.cite web
url = http://web.archive.org/web/20020215031748/http://www.puskas.matav.hu/english/telefonhirmondo.html
author = Hungarian Telecom Portal
title = The History of the 'telefonhírmondó' (archived)
accessdate = 2007-11-20] The authorities granted permission to Puskás on the condition that the "Telefon Hírmondó" would write down the news reports in advance, get them signed by the manager and the announcer, and send the pages to the ministries concerned every day, and to the Budapest police three times a day.

Puskás' died a month after the launch of the service, on 16 March 1893. Albert Puskás, the brother and heir to Tivadar Puskás wanted exclusive rights for the telephone newspaper for fifty years, which were not granted. Therefore, he sold the enterprise, along with the patent rights to István Popper, who accepted the authorization conditions put forward by the government authorities, on 26 September 1894. Popper created The Telefonhírmondó Joint stock company, built up the company's own network, modernized the equipment, and broadened the range of the programmes. The service was continued by Emile von Szveties, the technical director of the newspaper.cite journal
last = Denison
first = Thomas S.
date = April 27, 1901
title = A Telephone Newspaper
journal = Electrical Review
pages = 516–517
url = http://earlyradiohistory.us/telenew2.htm
accessdate = 2007-11-20]

Technology

When it started, "Telefon Hírmondó" had no wires of its own. Under the guidance its technical director Nándor Szmazsenka, the company built up a network independent of the telephones lines used for conversation.

"Telefon Hírmondó" divided the entire city of Budapest into twenty-seven districts, and had the rights to place wires in a way similar to the telephone and telegraph companies. When it started, the company had convert|43|mi|km of wire, which increased to 372 miles (599 km) in 1901, and convert|1100|mi|km in 1907.cite journal
last = Fitz-Gerald
first = W. G.
date = June 22, 1907
title = A Telephone Newspaper
journal = Scientific American
pages = 507
url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-20198546.html
accessdate = 2007-11-20] The main wire ran to each district, with branch wires to the houses. Twenty-seven copper wires ran from microphone receivers in the Opera House to the central office, where the current would pass through a patent device that would increase the sound. The distribution to subscribers would be regulated by another patented device.cite journal
last = Denison
first = Thomas S.
year = 1901
month = April
title = The Telephone Newspaper
journal = World's Work
pages = 640–643
url = http://earlyradiohistory.us/telenew1.htm
accessdate = 2007-11-20]

"Telefon Hírmondó" collected the news using the methods commonly employed by the print newspapers. The reporter would write the matter and submit it to the chief, who would sign it to fix responsibility. A clerk would then carefully copy the matter with lithographic ink on long galley slips. These would be transferred to the lithography stone, so as to appear in parallel columns 6 inches in width and two feet in length. Then, two pressmen would take a number of impressions on a roller-movement hand press, using common printing paper. Each sheet would be proofread by an assistant editor, with help of a copyholder. The verified sheet would comprise a certain part of the programmer, and would constitute the day's file along with the other sheets. A duplicate would be cut up into convenient strips for the use of the stentor (the person who would read the news into the transmitter). The stentor would talk into a double receiver to transmit the news.

Andrew Orlowski has called the "Telefon Hírmondó" service "a historical antecedent" of the WAP and mobile data services. [cite web
url = http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/04/26/talking_back_to_happiness_how/
author = Andrew Orlowski
title = Talking Back To Happiness – how voice calls can save 3G
date = April 26, 2001
publisher = The Register
accessdate = 2007-11-20] Carolyn Marvin states that "Telefon Hírmondó" can be seen as a "proto-broadcasting system"cite book
last = Marvin
first = Carolyn
title = When Old Technologies Were New: Thinking About Electric Communication in the Late Nineteenth Century
publisher = Oxford University Press
year = 1990
isbn = 978-0195063417
oclc = 15109205] , and An Nguyen notes that it might also fit into the definition of online news as the content was delivered over a point-to-point communication network only to selected users.cite journal
last = Nguyen
first = An
title = The interaction between technologies and society: Lessons learnt from 160 evolutionary years of online news services
journal = First Monday
volume = 12
issue = 3
month = March
year = 2007
url = http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_3/nguyen/index.html
accessdate = 2007-11-20]

Issue

The complete programme of the newspaper would be attached to the wall above each subscribers's receiver, telling the subscriber what to expect at an hour.

The "newspaper issue" would begin with a news bulletin and with summaries of newspapers. The afternoon schedule comprised "short entertaining stories", "sporting intelligence", and "filler items" of various kinds.cite book
last = Briggs
first = A.
title = The Social impact of the telephone
editor = Ithiel de Sola Pool
publisher = MIT Press
year = 1977
isbn = 978-0262160667
oclc = 2875378
pages = 40–65
chapter = The pleasure telephone: A chapter in the prehistory of the media] There were hourly news summaries for those who had missed the bulletins. The evening schedule consisted of theatrical offerings, visits to the opera, poetry readings, concerts, lectures (including repeats of Academy lectures by notable literary figures), and linguistic lessons (in English, Italian and French).

Thomas S. Denison (1901) wrote that the issue would begin at 10:30 AM, and would end at about 10:30 P.M., or later in case of a concert or some other night event. Stock exchange quotations would be transmitted from 10:00 AM to 10.30 AM, 11:00 AM to 11.15 AM, 11.30 AM to 11.45 AM, and again in the afternoon hours. Reports of the Reichsrath and political news would be given at 11:45 AM to 12:00 AM; the period would be filled by fuller reports of general and foreign news, when the Reichsrath was not in session. At 1.30 P.M. and 6:00 PM, a brief summary of news would be provided. The slot from 5.00 to 6.00 would be filled by concerts, varied by literary criticism, sporting events etc. On Sunday, there would be special items: news from 11:00 AM to 11.30 AM, and a concert from 4:30 AM to 6:00 AM. On Thursday, there would be a concert for children at 6:00 PM.

W. G. Fitz-Gerald (1907) stated the following schedule for a day's typical programme:

Fitz-Gerald also mentions that special lectures or concerts would be given for the children once a week, and reports of all the principal Hungarian and Austrian horse races would be flashed as soon as the results were known.

The American author Thomas Denison, who visited Budapest in 1901, found the report of news to be "highly satisfactory", but felt that the music by telephone, whether vocal or instrumental, still left something to be desired.

taff

In 1901, when the American author Thomas S. Denison visited Budapest, the "Telefon Hírmondó" employed about 180 people in winter and 150 in summer. The staff consisted of a business manager, an editor-in-chief, four assistant editors, and nine reporters. The only ladies among the staff were those who sang in the concerts. In 1901, the newspaper used to employ six stentors in the Winter: four for duty, and two for alternates. They would take turns of ten minutes each. In the summer, four stentors would suffice. In case of only two stentors being on duty, they would take turns of half an hour maximum. The stentors had strong and clear voices with distinct articulation to maintain clarity of sound over the telephone lines. W. G. Fitz-Gerald (1907) writes that the newspaper, by that time, had a staff of over two hundred people, including two business managers, two principal editors, six sub-editors, twelve reporters, and eight stentors.

"Telefon Hírmondó" had no leading articles or editorials. The editor alone was responsible in case of action against the paper for libel. By 1901, there had been two or three lawsuits against the editor, and he had won all of them. The newspaper exchanged reports with the city press, and the editors and managers of the newspaper received usual courtesies extended to the press, such as passes and free tickets.

ubscriber base

"Telefon Hírmondó" started with 60 subscribers, a figure that changed to 700 in 1894, 4915 in 1895, 7629 in 1899, around 6200 in 1901, and 15,000 by 1907. Some of the notable subscribers included the Emperor Francis Joseph, the Prime Minister Baron Banffy, all the other members of the Hungarian Cabinet, the famous Hungarian author Mór Jókai, and the Mayor of Budapest.cite journal
last = Colton
first = Arthur F.
month = March 30, 1912
title = The Telephone Newspaper--New Experiment in America
journal = Telephony
pages = 391–392
url = http://earlyradiohistory.us/telenew3.htm
accessdate = 2007-11-20] The paper appealed strongly to the more intellectual classes. The principal hotels in the city also subscribed to the newspapers, and their guests were free to use the instrument. The newspaper could also be found in other places including doctors' waiting rooms, barber shops, cafes, restaurants, and dentists' parlours.

Thomas S. Denison wrote in the April 1901 issue of "World's Work":

Business model

In 1901, the expenses of the newspaper ranged between 9000 and 10,000 florins per month (a florin was about 42 U.S. cents at that time). The fixed charges (telegrams, salaries, rent etc.) were about 7000 florins a month, and varied with the seasons.

The annual subscription price of the newspaper was 18 florins (the price of 10 kg sugar or 20 kg coffee in Budapest at that time). A receiver would be put into the subscriber's house at the company's expense. The subscriber was obliged to give security for a year's subscription, one-third of which had to be paid when the instrument would be ready for use. The balance had to be paid in two equal installments, at the end of four months and eight months respectively.

An advertisement would be sandwiched between two interesting news items, so that it would command special attention. In 1901, the newspaper used to charge one florin for a twelve-second advertising slot. The newspaper also experimented with the "penny-in-the-slot" machines, using 20-Fillér coins.

In the 1920s, was granted the rights to operate as a radio broadcaster, and began its radio broadcasting service on 1 December 1925. The services were offered parallelly for sometime, both on radio waves and telephone wires. By 1930, "Telefon Hírmondó" had started other services, and it had 91079 subscribers. During the World War II, the wire network of the company was damaged completely, leading to the cessation of telephone services.

Offshoots

The technology of "Telefon Hírmondó" was licensed to others, leading to the establishment of "l'Araldo telefonico" in Rome, in 1910. "L'Araldo telefonico" (Italian for "The Telephone Herald") had surpassed 1300 subscribers by 1914. [cite web
url = http://www.fgm.it/site/ita/dida/tecnic/circo.htm
title = Telefonia circolare
language = Italian
publisher = Fondazione Guglielmo Marconi
accessdate = 2007-11-20] The service was interrupted during the World War I, and was re-launched in 1922, under the name "Fonogiornale". [cite web
url = http://www.radiomarconi.com/marconi/rai_cronologia1.html
title = Le Origini Della Radiodiffusione In Italia
language = Italian
publisher = Comitato Guglielmo Marconi International
accessdate = 2007-11-20]

M. M. Gillam, a former advertising manager of the New York Herald discovered "Telefon Hírmondó" on a tour to Hungary, and obtained the American rights for the technology. He established the United States Telephone Herald Co. to distribute state rights. A company obtained the New Jersey rights for the newspaper started an issue at Newark, which lasted from 1911 to 1912.

References

Further reading

* cite book
last = Gábor
first = Luca
coauthors = Magda Gíró-Szász
title = Telephonic news dispenser
publisher = Hungarian Broadcasting Company
year = 1993
isbn = 978-9637058059
oclc = 33339192

External links

* [http://www.puskas.hu/puskas/hirmondo.htm A Telefon-Hírmondó] (in Hungarian language)
* [http://mek.oszk.hu/02100/02185/html/496.html A Telefonhírmondó, az első beszélő újság] (in Hungarian language)
* [http://www.hpo.hu/feltalalok/puskas.html A biography of Puskás Tivadar] (in Hungarian language), includes several illustrations related to Telefonhírmondó
* [http://earlyradiohistory.us/sec003.htm News and Entertainment by Telephone [phone])] , an informative collection maintained by Thomas H. White.