The price of the weekly newspaper will be higher from next week. Credit: Tydenik Respekt.
Prague, Nov 2 (CTK) – Economia publishers have sold the Respekt weekly to Respekt Media, a company comprising Dennik N, Independent Press, Aegis Holding and the magazine’s editors. Economia and Respekt Media announced the sale in a joint press release yesterday.
The financial details of the transaction will remain confidential, as agreed by the parties.
The price of the weekly newspaper will be higher from next week.
“For the 17 years that I have been its publisher, Respekt has shed light on our politics and relentlessly exposed incompetence, hypocrisy and corruption,” said billionaire investor Zdenek Bakala, owner of Economia. “Its investigative approach has set the bar for others and I have no doubt that it will continue to play an important role in the public debate.”
Respekt editor-in-chief Erik Tabery said the magazine will be able to respond more quickly to the challenges facing the media as an independent title. “The new owners, which include the editorial staff, are the guarantors that our only goal will continue to be quality journalism,” he said.
Tabery said the price of the weekly newspaper will increase by 10 crowns to 60 crowns from next week. He said the price increase had been planned for some time due to rising costs.
Three media investors each hold a quarter of the total share capital of CZK 2 million: Slovak Dennik N, the majority owner of the Czech Denik N daily; Independent Press; and Aegis Holding, associated with the Bratislava-based Kaligram publishing house. The remaining quarter of the shares is divided between three dozen editors and employees of Respekt, headed by Tabery.
Respekt has been published since 1989 and has been owned by Economia for almost a decade. It has a readership of 187,000 per issue and a circulation of around 32,000 copies sold, according to the latest data from the Publishers’ Union.
