Narrative

Dailies

Number sold (1. Aug – 31. Aug): 1. Nový Čas 151 543; 2. Sme 55 859 ; 3. Plus jeden deň 55 824; 4. Pravda 50 419 ; 5. Korzár 25 238 ; 6. Új Szó 23 487 ; 7. Hospodárske noviny 18 501

Nový Čas dominates the daily, weekly, and monthly print markets and has several of the top web sites for news and entertainment. Most people I spoke with in Bratislava will say either nothing, or nothing good, about such publications. Yet, while loudly and commonly denounced as ‘trash’ in some form or another, these publications are far and away the most read in Slovakia. As is obvious from this list, the leading newspaper SME is not even close in sales. SME positions itself as a serious, pro-market, conservative newspaper and sells mostly in Bratislava. Similarly, Hospodárske noviny keeps a constant readership but seems unable to move beyond dedicated supporters, which is often the case when a publication holds a particular political line of inquiry. Nový Čas, on the other hand, is a tabloid that features sexually graphic imagery and melodramatic representation of current events aimed to garner as wide an audience as possible. The paper is cheap, the ink of extremely low quality, the journalism far from thorough – but it is a national publication in terms of dissemination and sales. In short, regardless of the trash talk, it sells. Interestingly, the newspaper Pravda recently changed to a format that is far more Nový Čas than SME. Even the content and style seem to indicate an attempt to stem declining sales figures by finding a niche between the top-selling tabloid and the retreating popularity of serious news in print. Overall, however, while Nový Čas seems to be hanging on to a significant print readership, it must be noted that the print daily seems less and less a viable business for the future in the face of growing internet usage. Print sales have been decline for some time. Čas.sk and SME.sk are two of the leading online sources, the competition is fierce, and web readers growing daily.