“Someone wants to meet and talk with you as soon as possible about a very important matter concerning you,” said the message, which was handed over to the journalist by a high-ranking and insider in the region. When he wanted to inquire about the details, it turned out that the man playing the role of the postman didn’t know more about what it was all about either. Mediation was necessary because the news bearer and the pen twirler did not know each other. The requested helper provided the name and phone number, and the journalist called him the same day. The informant remained tight-lipped and mysterious on the phone, and they finally agreed to meet the next morning at a gas station in a nearby small town. They agreed on who would arrive in which car, and the other’s mobile number was saved. Everything happened exactly as it usually does in a “category B” movie. The news reporter approaching the gas station was very accurate, assuming his partner was already there. So he spotted his car from afar, parked next to it, then moved into the other car with a quick movement, shook his hand while seated and introduced himself to the unknown man.
The conversation that started was devoid of any tension, they talked about the political situation of the country and the region, which both of them saw as rather gloomy, which is not particularly surprising here in the eastern parts. They talked about the stories of national and local politicians, the journalist asked about the state of local public life, the chances of the upcoming election, and the man who contacted him through the intermediary about a “very important matter” just kept saying and saying, he never ran out of words. About a quarter of an hour had already passed, and the car window was slowly fogging up from their breath. Then it crossed the mind of the journalist who came here from the bigger town that he was certainly not in shape, because the informant had already told him why he wanted to meet him, but he was just being careless, and all of this went right past his ears. Then he reassured himself that he couldn’t be that stupid. So he quickly asked, “Why did you call him? Or has it already been said?” he asked with some uncertainty in his voice.
***
“It’s out of the question!” – the middle-aged man who initiated the meeting reassured the journalist. Then he leaned a little closer to her, as if he should be afraid of someone or something even here, inside the car, in order to hear what he was saying, so he began his story in a whisper. This was about the fact that a few days earlier, the city’s ruling party mayor had approached him. The essence of their face-to-face conversation, which was also free of conspiracy, was that, in exchange for hundreds of thousands of forints, he wanted to entrust our man with the idea that “the journalist should be beaten well in a teaching manner”. Since we are not in Russia or Mexico, nor are we in Turkey, this unusual “request” caused quite a bit of surprise from the requested agent, who was to be remunerated with a larger sum. According to him, at first he couldn’t spit or swallow, then he took a deep breath and said to the first person in the settlement: “You’re completely stupid, fuck you, you can’t do that here! It would be such an outrage that an investigative journalist was beaten that the world had never seen before. And they would get to you and me quickly.” However, the head of the settlement, indicating that his decision was serious and unchangeable, insisted on fulfilling the assignment – and wanted to persuade the man to do it all for good money at all costs. However, according to his later statement, he resisted anyway, shook his head and repeated his counterarguments. “You don’t understand, although we live in an amazing country, it’s not one where beating a journalist would fit!” he said as a final argument. By this time, the mayor had run out of words and saw that there was no chance of further persuasion.
The politician from the governing party probably misjudged the situation from his own point of view. Not because of what the assignment was about, because it still fit into his primitive and aggressive value system – even if alarmingly – as a way of “management”. But because he believed that the chosen person was available for the task, and that the relationship of trust that once existed between him and our man is still alive and functioning. But it turned out that this is far from the case. Thinking about it, asking for the fulfillment of such an assignment and initiating another requires the greatest possible discretion from the principal and the principal. Here we are only talking about hundreds of thousands of forints. Rather, it is about the common knowledge of a secret and keeping it, at the same time an invitation to commit a crime and the dangers of being found out with all the consequences, the subsequent complete human, social and financial impossibility and destruction, or at least the chance of it. This would be typical of the criminal proceedings reaching the end, which the press would also cover extensively.
The mayor did not expect that the rejection of his “request” would be so decisive and irreversible. And absolutely not because the requested person perceives the case as a matter of conscience, and communicates all of this to the designated victim with considerable speed. (Even if he didn’t put this on the mayor’s nose.) And following his resignation, he cannot find another possible executor to carry out his plan. Precisely because of the extremely delicate assignment and the accompanying discretion.
***
The journalist who was sentenced to be beaten by the city manager – although what he was told sounded ominous – was not scared. That’s why he was a little surprised at himself, while trying to think rationally. He tried to take stock of what all this means and what follows from it. It is not a special ability, but at the same time he was able to experience what happened to him from the inside and see and analyze himself from the outside. He didn’t consider himself particularly brave, but not a coward either. He never hid himself, and even if his heart beat in his throat at times, he said it, but he wrote down what he thought much more often. In doing so, he inevitably harmed interests in a world full of foot-licking and submission, where a large number of propagandists still thought of themselves as journalists due to some strange idea. The journalist thought and internally felt that he had eliminated the word fear from the dictionary a long time ago. Only without it is it possible to follow up on shocking and intriguing stories, it is the only way to write real articles.
The journalist first told his editors, and a few days later he told the acquaintances and friends of the former policeman. The astonishment was the same everywhere, but the reactions and suggestions were completely different. The opinions ranged from the basic position of “no need to deal with it” to the scale of “this cannot be taken seriously enough”. There were those who argued in favor of the police report, while others considered it completely unnecessary. “At best, it will be an assertion and a denial, meaning the confrontation will end without results, as in most cases,” said one of them. While others lamented what the “media worker should be beaten well” project could mean and how it could be implemented. Still others advised to be very careful when going out, especially after sunset, but some saw various forms of gymnastics and strengthening at home as the most urgent.
If two or three grizzled men attack him unexpectedly and from behind, and then hit and kick him, he will fall, even by hitting his temple or forehead on the curb, a concrete planter, or whatever. This could result in a long coma or even immediate death, but it could just be a few knocked-out teeth, bruises, and swelling all over the body and on the face – that’s what the newspaper thought-
writer, when he took the scenarios of what could happen, including the worst and the best. It is a question of how it can be modeled and carried out, even by professionals, so that the insult to the “teacher-like” but at the same time “well-beaten” person hurts a lot, but does not have any serious consequences. There is no answer to the question because anything can happen in a fraction of a second.
Then it also dawned on him that, in its own strange and contradictory way, and against his will, this sneak attack could bring him such amazing publicity and recognition that even the best and bravest professional work could not achieve. And although our journalist didn’t want this in the least, it was there among so many possibilities and consequences.
***
There were those who said that no matter how morbid the story was, the politician was serious about the assignment, although it is a fact that he assessed the situation badly and turned to the wrong person. But there was also the opinion that he did not think all of this very seriously, perhaps it is also unimaginable that he connived with a double twist or simply messaged the alleged agent, because he wanted to achieve so much that the media worker would never write about him again, at least for a long time . As he wrote about it several times before, in several cases. This is just as possible as being hired for the actual beating. Which is an unusual way of dealing with public disputes and frictions in these areas, while the mayor is also one of the regional leaders of the ruling party.
The newspaper reporter knows that the leader of the town despises the independent media, his newspaper, mocked as a municipal newspaper, constantly sings his glory, surrounds himself with foot-lickers and courtiers who look after him, and in his small town he has been running an almost flawlessly functioning informant network for a long time, with which he keeps almost everyone in fear . And he often involves his family in his businesses, which are based on politics and public affairs.
“If they try to force me to self-censor with this threat or a message wrapped in a threat, I can tell you in advance that it will not succeed,” the journalist finally thought. Then, after some reflection, he told a close colleague, with whom he has been friends for decades, that there was a story here that might be worth writing. This is how this article was born, at the end of which the author added a point and then sent it to the editors. Then came the editor’s reply, then editing, proofreading, folding, printing and distribution. And now, dear reader, it has reached you. You are honored to read it. And thank you to my friend for the terrifying story!
Source: nepszava.hu
