Partizán Founder Márton Gulyás Moves to Rural Hungary to Launch New Media Workshop

Gulyás Márton Moves to Penészlek to Launch Partizán Rural Media Workshop

Gulyás Márton, the founder of Partizán, is packing his bags for Penészlek, a small village nestled in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County near the Romanian border.

A Return to Eastern Roots and Folk Traditions

For Gulyás, the choice of Penészlek carries biographical and cultural resonance. While he was neither born nor raised in the settlement, the village served as a filming location for documentary projects helmed by his father and uncle back in the 1960s and 1970s. Embracing the intellectual traditions of Hungarian populist writers and the poetic spirit of Attila József, Gulyás announced that he and his colleagues are effectively setting up shop as the chroniclers of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County and the broader eastern region.

The operational hub for this new venture is slated to be the village’s former medical clinic, a building that has stood empty for a decade. According to 24.hu, Gulyás and his team have launched a public fundraising campaign to cover the renovation costs needed to transform the abandoned facility into a functioning rural media workshop. By embedding journalists directly into the rural fabric, the project intends to move past superficial reporting and give voice to structural economic and social challenges that rarely pierce the capital-centric media bubble.

Navigating Personal Health and Leadership Transition

The move to the countryside follows a physically demanding period for the media founder. Gulyás has been absent from Partizán broadcasts since May due to health complications. In a video statement released on Friday morning, he revealed that a chronic heart rhythm disorder diagnosed 14 years ago had significantly worsened. Following the conclusion of the electoral period, he underwent a multi-hour open-heart surgery at the Honvédkórház, followed by a summer of rehabilitation in Balatonfüred.

Photo: hir36.hu

This personal chapter coincides with a broader institutional restructuring at Partizán. In mid-August, the platform announced that Földiák Vince will take over the editor-in-chief position starting September 1, while Gulyás transitions into the roles of board president and content-producing senior contributor. The establishment of the Penészlek bureau thus allows Gulyás to channel his recovery and editorial energy into a reporting mission away from daily studio production.

Photo: blikk.hu

The decision to build an outpost in Penészlek highlights a structural vulnerability in the Hungarian media ecosystem: the imbalance of coverage between urban centers and rural regions. By anchoring a workshop in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, Partizán is attempting a strategy to address central media concentration.

Whether community fundraising and local engagement can sustain a permanent journalistic presence in an abandoned medical clinic remains the defining logistical question for the months ahead. Yet, by trading the studio desk for the village street, Gulyás is betting that the most compelling stories in contemporary Hungary are waiting to be told far from the capital.

What Lies Ahead for the Partizán Bureau

Editorial independence in rural settings requires navigating both local political dynamics and the realities of localized investigative reporting. What are your thoughts on independent media shifting focus from capital cities to rural regions? Share your perspective below.