MAGAZINE ARCHITECT - WHAT'S HAPPENING?
Current report on the magazine that is not currently being published
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Things have been "happening" around the magazine in recent months and weeks. As its publisher, who has been managing the magazine for nearly 11 years, I feel it is my duty to inform you about the situation in which this title, owned by the Association of Architects, currently finds itself.
Our publishing house KABINET had a fixed-term contract with the Association - specifically, our contract ended on December 31, 2015. The contract stated that at least 60 days before its expiration, the Association should discuss with us the possibility of its extension. However, something else happened. The board of the Association, which met in a count of three, voted contrary to the statutes (a majority is needed for voting) as early as August of last year to announce a tender for a new publisher - prompted by my "problematic editorial" in issue 3/2015, where I dared to criticize the amateurish approach of the Association to the preparation of such an important competition as the Grand Prix of Architects. Furthermore, there were unfounded debts that we allegedly owe to the Association, which we contested.
The tender for a new publisher was indeed announced on September 30 of last year, but it was published on the Association's website with a significant delay. No one informed us of this step, nor did the Association invite us to participate, even though they reached out to many others. Ironically, we learned of this information from a party that was approached by the Association and invited to the tender. So everything happened quietly at the beginning, behind our backs. The Association is again demanding an outrageous payment of 150,000 for each issue from the new publisher, which amounts to nearly a million annually - we have continuously pointed out the unsustainability of the amount of the fee and previously offered for negotiation an amount ranging from 0 to 40,000, to which no one has responded until now. The amount that the Association has collected from us for the rental of their magazine has permanently exhausted and stifled us - we created the magazine only thanks to an under-the-radar budget with just two people - I thank my colleague Táňa Štefánková for her heroic work commitment. We could not strengthen and rejuvenate our two-member editorial team, expand it with a marketing worker and other collaborators, build and develop the structure and concept of the magazine. We did not have funds for business trips not only to Czech buildings, let alone abroad, where we were often invited by "star" architects to visit their realizations. We paid fees to authors with a significant delay - not to mention my own salary. Financially, we were consistently hovering between zero and loss, covered from a debit account. Unfortunately, several massive investments that I have made over the years not into my own but into the magazine of the Association of Architects did not help either.
Despite our frequent warnings to the Board of the Association of Architects about this long-term dramatic situation of the magazine, we have received no effort to resolve it. On the contrary, we remain in some kind of "suspicion" that publishing this professional periodical is an amazing business for us - just look at how many ads they have in the issue!!! The ignorance and complete lack of knowledge of publishing issues among the members of the Association's Board is evidenced by the fact that the conditions for the next publisher remain the same! Last year we did not receive a grant from the Ministry of Culture - after my complaint, the Deputy Minister informed me of the reason: if we did not pay the Association a fee for publishing, we would certainly keep the magazine alive.
As of today, we have not been informed by anyone about the course of the tender, where the announcement of results has already been postponed several times; we continue to learn about new and new parties that the Association is approaching in this strange game, long after the competition's deadline. No one at the Association seems to care that this significantly harms the magazine, regardless of who will publish it: we have completely halted editorial work. Advertising presentations are often arranged a year in advance, and the uncertainty about the future of the title greatly discourages potential advertisers, who then prefer to turn to the competition. Grant applications also have their deadlines - usually submitted in the fall. All of this has already been massively disrupted.
It is unlikely that it will be us who take over the further publishing of the magazine. While the other members of the Association's Board staunchly remain silent about everything, instead of engaging in constructive discussions, I am exchanging unpleasant letters with Mr. Chairman Parma - he threatens me with legal action, sends me reminders before filing a lawsuit without specifying exactly for what, and threatens me with an inspection from the tax office. Mr. Chairman simply does not like me. That he will certainly not select us is confirmed by the latest kind letter from him:
Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2016 12:59 PM
"Mr. Macháček,
Please take your arguments and excuses and justifications elsewhere… You are no one important!
Best regards, M.G. Parma - Chairman of the Association of Architects"
Well, I thought to myself after reading – that is quite a bold statement for an official letter from the representative of the Association. God forgive him.
We have handed over the subscriber database to the Association of Architects, and it is therefore now the Association's responsibility to ensure the continuous delivery of the title to subscribers. We are finishing with a significant loss - but we take solace in the fact that we have done a respectable piece of honest work, that we have always been a mirror and a support for Czech architecture and its creators, providing a relatively generous space for the presentation and confrontation of the work of Czech architects. That we have kept the magazine alive at a certain professional and cultural level, even under difficult conditions. Many have appreciated this, for instance, the Union of Publishers awarded us the title of Best Professional Magazine of the Year three times. Especially heartwarming accolades, however, come in the form of dozens of beautiful, even touching letters that we receive from you regarding the whole affair.
Thank you for your support, understanding, and together with you, we wish the sixty-two-year-old magazine ARCHITEKT the best in the coming years.
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Yours sincerely,
Julius M a c h á č e k, former editor-in-chief
of the KABINET publishing house
The English translation is powered by AI tool. Switch to Czech to view the original text source.
7 comments
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Author
Date
Když se dva perou...
Petr Vaněk
19.01.16 05:12
...
Daniel John
20.01.16 10:22
Vážený pane Macháčku,
josef smutný
23.01.16 07:23
trefa
Michal Schwarz
27.01.16 02:53
KABINET - J. Macháček nemá nic společného s OA
Štefánková
28.01.16 12:16
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